Deepest Dark, Brightest Light
by R.M. Soothsayer
Summary: In the twilight of his seventh incarnation, the Doctor meets a disillusioned young girl and promises to one day take her on an adventure.  Now, ten years later, in the twilight of his eighth incarnation, the Doctor returns to make good on his promise.
1. Prologue: Changes

**Prologue: Changes**

_It was 2001…_

Babies were ugly. Wrinkly, pink, and ugly.

That was the only thing Miranda could think of as she looked at all the newborns laying in their incubators on the other side of the glass. Some of them were sleeping as the nurses ran to and fro between each of them, checking whatever it was nurses checked for. Some of them were crying.

But they were all pink and ugly. Miranda didn't understand why everyone was always making such a fuss about how cute they were.

"Is one of them yours?"

Startled, Miranda almost fell off the chair she stood on, but managed to catch herself on the glass. A nurse on the other side saw her and shook her head, Miranda assumed, at the fact that she had just put her bare hands on the otherwise spotless window. Miranda stuck her tongue out at the nurse, before turning to see who had spoken.

Standing at the window, next to the chair she stood on, was a funny looking man. He was short, wearing a tan jacket over a red waistcoat and a black and brown zigzagged patterned tie. He wore a white panama hat and was holding under his arm a black umbrella with a red handle shaped like a question mark. His eyes, wizened and tired looking, sparkled and he had a mischievous, though at the same time somehow sad smile on his face.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you. Is one of them yours?"

Miranda raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

The man gestured at the babies with his umbrella. His grin didn't falter. "The babies! Is one of them yours?"

Miranda scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Ew, no way. I'm only eight, mister!"

The man's smile broadened. "Of course you are. And it's Doctor, by the way, not mister."

"You don't look like a doctor. Doctor who?"

The man chuckled. "You know, that never gets old."

Miranda furrowed her brow. "You're weird."

"So I've been told. Now, tell me, if one of these children doesn't belong to you, what exactly are you doing here?"

Miranda sighed. "My mom had a baby."

"Oh, did she?" The man, the Doctor as he called himself, turned to look at the babies. "So one of these little tykes is your brother or sister then?"

Miranda sighed, turning away from the babies completely and slumping to a sitting position on the chair. "Sister. And no, she's not in there yet. She's still in the delivery room getting _fawned_ over by Mom and Dad."

The Doctor turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "My, my. We don't exactly sound enthused by this."

Miranda crossed her arms. "Why should I be? Things were great before, with just me and Mom and Dad. Now this new baby comes along. It's totally going to change everything!"

"Aha." The Doctor nodded. "And we view change as a bad thing, do we?"

Miranda nodded vigorously. "New baby to love. To take care of and feed all the time. Babies need more attention than I do. Means I'm totally gonna get lost in the fold. I mean already my parents have completely forgotten about me. I snuck out of the room while they were gushing and came here. No one's come looking for me yet. No one's even said a word to me, 'til you came along."

"I see. And you've been out here for, what, a few hours?"

"Well…" Miranda looked down and shrugged. "Probably more like ten or fifteen minutes or so. But still!"

The Doctor took a seat in the chair next to Miranda's. "Now, I don't know if you're being exactly fair to your parents, my dear. Of course they're excited. They've just brought a new life into the world! They've made a new addition to the family. Their legacy just grew twice as big! It doesn't mean you're any less important."

"I guess." Miranda huffed. "It's still stupid. Things were fine before. The family didn't _need_ a new addition. Change is dumb."

The Doctor shook his head. "Change isn't always dumb. Change is different and it can take some getting used to. But it's not always bad. Trust me; I've been through some pretty drastic changes in my lifetime. Six, to be exact." His gaze became far away for a moment. "And it won't be long now before I'm forced to go through another one, I suspect. I can tell when they're getting close. When my time is about to run out once again. I've always been able to. My goodness, I'm getting old…"

Miranda looked at him and tilted her head, her expression softening. She suddenly felt a bit guilty for being so selfish complaining about her sister. This man was clearly very sad about something. "I'm sorry. You don't look so old to me."

The Doctor's grin returned. "Why thank you! You're looking pretty young and peppy yourself! What's your name, girl?"

Miranda hesitated. She wasn't supposed to tell strangers her name, she knew that. But something about this man, this Doctor, radiated trust. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt she could trust him, even if she didn't know why. "Um… Miranda. Miranda Valor."

"Miranda Valor!" The Doctor's eyes were sparkling again. "Now that is an excellent name! A name destined for adventure and greatness, don't you think?"

A small grin crept onto Miranda's face. She shrugged. "I guess so."

"Tell me Miranda, where are you from?"

"Here in town."

"I see. And which town is here?"

Miranda paused before answering. "You don't know where you are?"

"Not precisely, no." The Doctor removed his hat and scratched at his longish brown hair. "You see, my means of conveyance sort of… hiccupped… as I was passing through and I wound up here."

"Oh… kay." Miranda shook her head. This man was very strange. "Well, you're in Bellevue."

"Aha! Bellevue." The Doctor nodded, replacing his hat. "And Bellevue is where?"

Miranda tilted her head. "In Illinois?"

"Illinois! So, I'm in America then? How exciting! Early 21st century I take it?" The Doctor withdrew a pocket watch from his waistcoat and squinted at it. The pattern on the watch's cover struck Miranda. It was an intricate design of a figure eight.

"Uh, yeah." She said finally. "2001."

"Wonderful. Good year, 2001. Well… September will be a bit rocky…" The Doctor closed the pocket watch before returning it to his coat. "Tell, me, Miranda, how would you like to go on an adventure?"

Miranda's eyes lit up. "An adventure?"

The Doctor nodded. "Absolutely. Get away from all this nonsense with the baby and your parents. Just get away from all these things that have you so worried." Miranda didn't answer right away. The Doctor leaned toward her. "What if I told you it were possible for you to go anywhere you wanted at any time you wanted to? That I could put all of space and time at your disposal?"

Miranda looked up at him now, her eyes as wide as saucers. "Nuh-uh."

The Doctor chuckled. "It's true!"

Miranda crossed her arms. "How?"

"Ah, now, that remains my little secret until I have your answer, my dear. You said it yourself: no one would even notice you were gone. You wouldn't have to deal with your parents' fawning over your new sister. Wouldn't have to deal with the new addition to your family. With all the change. You could just be free. How does that sound?"

Miranda thought about it for a long moment. Finally, hesitantly, she spoke. "I dunno. I mean… I don't just want to, ya know… run away from home or anything. I don't want my parents to worry about me. This baby thing bugs me but…"

"But what?"

Miranda shrugged. "But, I dunno… my parents seem so happy right now with her. They didn't notice me sneaking out of the delivery room, but if I ran away from home and they got scared… well, that would ruin it! That wouldn't make things better. It'd make them worse. I don't want to make anyone sad. This stuff with the baby, I mean… I don't like it, but…"

"But it'll pass?"

Miranda shrugged. "Yeah, I guess it will."

The Doctor nodded. "Smart girl you are, Miranda." He stood, stretching. "Well, it's been nice chatting with you, but I'm afraid I really must be moving along now. I'm in the process of retrieving the last mortal remains of… of an old friend… and bringing them home."

Miranda looked up at him. "Your friend died?"

The sadness returned to the Doctor's eyes. "I'm afraid so."

"I'm sorry."

The Doctor shrugged. "It's alright. We hadn't exactly been getting on well just recently. And his demise was of his own doing. It was lovely chatting with you, my dear."

"You too, mister… er, Doctor."

The Doctor turned on his heel and began walking down the hallway. Miranda stood back up on her chair to look at the babies again. They seemed a bit less ugly this time.

"Miranda?"

Miranda looked up. Down the hall a ways, the Doctor stood looking at her, his hands in his pockets. "You know… you never really gave me an answer. Would you care to go on an adventure?"

Miranda cocked her head. "I can't leave my parents. Not right now."

The Doctor shrugged. "Yes, I'm afraid now wouldn't exactly be an ideal time for me to take on a travelling companion either. As I said before, I'm in the middle of a task and on top of that… I'm afraid I'll be dealing with a certain amount of change myself soon. Things tend to get somewhat complicated when it comes to me and changes. However, after things have settled down a bit… would you like to?"

"Where would we go?"

"Anywhere. Anywhere at all. Anywhere you wanted to."

"Even Disney World?"

The Doctor laughed out loud at that. It wasn't a mocking laugh, but a hearty, jovial laugh. It made Miranda smile to see him laugh like that. "Of course. Even Disney World."

"Well… yeah. Yeah, that sounds like fun! But, my parents…"

The Doctor waved a hand dismissively. "They wouldn't even have to know, my dear. Trust me. We could go, we could have as much fun as we wanted, and when we were done I could bring you back and it'd be like you never even left."

Miranda looked at him for a moment before climbing off the chair and walking up to him, looking him straight in the eye. "You really mean all this, don't you?"

The Doctor nodded. "I really do. As a matter of fact, here; hold out your hand." Miranda did so, and the Doctor reached into his coat and withdrew something which he dropped into her open palm. It was a key. A small, simple, copper-colored key. "That's one of my spare keys. I only give those to full time travelling companions. I'm giving it to you as a promise that I will come back and the two of us will go on an adventure. Alright?"

Miranda looked at the key for a moment longer before nodding and looking back up. "Alright, Doctor."

The Doctor grinned at her and ruffled her hair. "Be a good girl now, Miranda. Watch out for Kylie and do as your parents say, alright?"

"Alright."

And with that the Doctor turned and walked down the corridor. A moment later, he'd gone through a door and was gone. Miranda turned her attention back to the key, before suddenly looking up again.

"Wait a sec… Kylie? Who's that?"

"Miranda?"

Miranda's eyes widened. _This_ was a voice she recognized. She turned. "Dad?"

There, standing near the chair she'd been using to look at the babies, was her father. He looked relieved to see her. "There you are. Your mother and I were worried!"

Miranda shrugged. "I didn't go far. I just wanted to see the babies."

Her father walked up to her and held out a hand which she took and the two began wakling. "Well, that's okay. But next time say something first, alright? Besides, you didn't get to meet your new sister! Your mother and I even settled on a name while you were gone."

Miranda stopped walking. "Was it Kylie?"

Her father stopped walking too. "Wow. Yes. How'd you know that?"

Miranda shrugged and started walking again. "Lucky guess."

And that was that. Years went by and eventually Miranda came to think of the Doctor simply as nothing more than the strange but friendly man who'd cheered her up in the hospital by telling her stories about how he could magically have whisked her away to wherever she'd wanted to go.

But then, ten years later, he came back.

* * *

**AN: **_Please, do let me know what you think of it. To be continued shortly!_


	2. The Glowing Key

**Chapter One: The Glowing Key**

_It is now 2011…_

_Knock, knock, knock_!

Mira looked up from her magazine, turned off her iPod, and waited.

_Knock, knock, knock_!

She sighed. She thought she'd heard knocking. She pulled the headphones out of her ears. "Kylie, what do you want?"

"I can't sleep, Mira." Her sister's voice sounded pathetic and muffled from the other side of the door. Mira sighed and rolled her eyes, before sliding off her bed. She tugged the hem of the white tank top she wore down over the waist band of her flannel pajama pants, and brushed a lock of her long, chestnut hair behind her ear, before moving toward the door and opening it. Her little sister, Kylie, stood in her Adventure Time night gown, her curly blonde hair a tussled mess, looking up at Mira wide-eyed.

"What is it? What's the matter?" Mira put her hands on her hips. "You should've been asleep, like, an hour ago."

"I heard another noise from my closet." Kylie replied in a small voice.

Mira sighed deeply, covering her eyes with her hand. Not this again. She slowly let her hand fall from her face. "Kylie. You are ten years old, alright? You are _way_ too old to still be afraid of monsters in the closet."

"I didn't say it was a monster. But I _heard_ something!" Kylie took a step forward to try to enter Mira's room. Her older sister pushed her firmly back to the other side of the threshold. "Seriously, Mira, there's something in there! And I saw it two nights ago!"

Mira smirked. "Oh, right. The shadow with eyes you were telling Dad about?"

"Yes! Please, Mira, _please_! Just check! It always goes away when Dad checks!"

Mira shook her head. "Of course it does. Fine. Let's go."

Kylie nodded, grabbed her sister's hand, and began pulling her down the hall toward her room.

Boy, this summer vacation was starting out _great_. Mira had just graduated from high school the previous week. This was supposed to be _the_ summer. Hang out with friends every day, party every night. The last hurrah until the cold reality of the real world began its slow approach through the terrifying beast known as college. Terrifying to Mira, anyway.

So, she'd spent the week attending friends' graduation parties, as she'd expected, knowing that the _real_ fun was going to begin that weekend. She and her friend Robyn were going to get a hotel room across the river, in University City, and just enjoy the nightlife of the city for the whole weekend.

Which was, of course, when her parents informed her that they were planning on going up to Chicago for the weekend, and that Mira herself had to stay home and watch her sister.

So Carrie had taken Mira's spot, and she and Robyn had gone to live it up in U-City. And Mira was stuck at home, checking Kylie's closet for monsters.

"Life is fair and balanced." Mira muttered to herself as they reached Kylie's door.

"What?" Kylie looked up at her.

Mira shook her head. "Nothing. Let's get this over with."

She pushed the door open.

Her sister's room was neatly kept, much neater than her own. It was also obnoxiously colored with its white carpeting, it's purple walls, and her sister's pink bed covers. On one end of the room stood a white dresser, with a mirror above it, covered in stickers. Directly opposite, on the other wall, was her sister's closet, which stood open ajar. When Kylie saw it, she gasped.

"It's open! I didn't leave it open, Mira, I didn't! Maybe we should get outta here!"

Mira narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Maybe we should get outta here? 'Cause your closet's open? And where would we go, exactly?"

Kylie shrugged. "The police station?"

"The police station, huh? You wanna be the one to tell the police that we left our house in terror because your closet door was open?"

"Okay."

Mira rolled her eyes, stepped into her sister's room… and paused.

It was cold in here. In fact, it was freezing! Mira turned back to Kylie. "Did you have your window open?"

"Nuh-uh."

Mira's eyes narrowed. "Then why is it so cold in here?"

Kylie dropped her gaze away from Mira's. "It gets cold when the monster's in there."

Mira shook her head. "Give me a break." She strode the rest of the way across Kylie's room and reached out to grab the doorknob.

"Don't!" Kylie cried.

"You said it goes away when someone checks on it! So this is me, checking!"

"It goes away when _Dad_ checks! It might not be scared of you."

"Trust me, if it's in there, it's _gonna_ be scared of me, thanks to the mood I'm in right now." And with that Mira yanked the closet open to reveal…

Clothes. And shoes. And nothing else.

Mira sighed and turned to Kylie. "Hm. What a surprise. No shadow monsters in here."

Slowly, Kylie crept up next to Mira to peer in the open closet. When she saw there was nothing inside, her shoulders slumped with relief before her eyes widened suddenly once more.

"But it's still cold in here! That means it's still around! The cold goes away when it goes away! We might've let it out when we came in here! It could be anywhere in the house now!"

Mira shrugged. "Fine. Then you go to sleep and lock your door. And if I find it wandering around the house, I'll punch its lights out. Deal?"

"Mira, that's stupid. It's a shadow. You probably can't punch it."

Mira nodded. "You're probably right. But hey, if it's a shadow that means closing your door probably won't keep it out either. Wuh oh." Kylie's eyes widened even more at that. Mira sighed deeply. "Why would I think it was even sort of a good idea to say that?"

Kylie instantly fell to her knees in front of Mira, throwing her arms around her sister's legs. "Mira, please, please, _please_, let me stay in your room tonight, I'll bring my sleeping bag and sleep on the floor and you can stay up as late as you want and keep the light on and I swear I won't make a noise or bother you, you won't even know I'm there, please, please, _pleeeeeeease_!"

Mira ran her hands through her hair. She'd brought this upon herself. She knew that. "Alright. Fine." Kylie's face instantly lit up. "But one peep out of you, one single, solitary, sound, and you're on your own. Got it?"

Kylie, grinning, jumped to her feet and saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

Mira couldn't help but crack a smile ever so slightly at that. "Shut up and get your sleeping bag."

* * *

It watched the two of them from beneath the bed. It watched as Kylie went and retrieved her sleeping bag shakily from the closet, while Mira stood in the doorway waiting, because Kylie wouldn't let her leave without her. It kept its gaze focused squarely on Kylie. The little one. The one upon whom it had been feeding these past weeks.

The sustenance flowed off the little one in waves, whenever the creature made itself known to her. It was intoxicating. The sustenance was almost always flowing from the little one after the star this wretched planet orbited passed from the sky. The little one didn't like the dark. And the creature took full advantage of that.

The sustenance was in fact now flowing from the little one in almost as strong of waves as it did when the creature fed, as she dug through her closet. The space she had made its domain. It was everything the creature could do not to spring from its hiding place and feed right now. Had it been capable of grinning, in its current incorporeal form, it would be doing so now.

It couldn't take corporeal form, not just yet. The sustenance had never quite been that strong. On the contrary, whenever the large, male creature that the little one called Dad was around, the sustenance slowed to a trickle. The Dad frightened the creature. As long as he was around, the creature could have no real sway.

But the Dad wasn't here now. The sustenance had grown more powerful than it ever had been. And tonight, it would make its move. Tonight, after the two humans went dormant, the little one and the one it called Mira, after they turned off the dreaded artificial lights that hurt its eyes so, it would awaken the little one. The sustenance would be exquisite. Perhaps so exquisite that it would gain corporeal form.

But for now it would be patient.

It would wait.

* * *

Mira stretched and yawned, putting down her magazine, taking her iPod ear phones out and glancing at the floor to the left of her bed. Kylie lay in her sleeping bag, her eyes closed. It had been two hours since Kylie had asked Mira to check for the monster in her closet. True to her word, Kylie had laid on the floor in silence, not saying a single word to Mira. For a while she'd just laid, staring at the ceiling, but eventually her eyes had fluttered closed, and for the last half hour, she'd been laying that way. Mira was pretty sure she was finally asleep, which meant that Mira herself could finally turn off the light and go to sleep herself.

Slowly, carefully, she slipped out of bed, and gingerly stepped over Kylie, before moving across the room toward the light switch. Her fingers were inches from the switch, when Kylie suddenly spoke up.

"Don't."

Mira sighed and turned around. Kylie was sitting up in her sleeping bag, wide-awake.

"Don't." Kylie said again. "It doesn't come out when the lights are on. Please. Can't we just sleep with the lights on?"

Mira sighed. "No. We can't."

"Why not?"

"Because the lights are bright and I physically cannot sleep while there are bright lights shining on my eyelids. You're just gonna have to suck it up, if you wanna stay in here tonight. Otherwise you're welcome to go back to your room and spend the whole night in there with the lights on."

Kylie slid down into her sleeping bag. "You know, you didn't used to be so mean."

Mira rolled her eyes. "You didn't used to be so needy. Oh, wait!"

She waited for her sister to retort. When nothing happened she turned and saw Kylie was laying with her sleeping bag pulled up over her nose. Her eyes, the only part of her visible, were staring up at the ceiling again. And they looked genuinely hurt.

"Okay," Mira sighed. "That was mean. I'm sorry."

Kylie shrugged beneath her sleeping bag.

Mira walked over and knelt down beside her. "No, really. I am. I know I've been in kind of a mood lately, and I'm sorry. Okay?"

Kylie uncovered her face and looked Mira straight in the eye. "Mira, I'm really scared."

Mira tilted her head. "You really are, aren't you?"

Kylie nodded. Mira thought for a moment, then nodded and stood, moving over to her dresser. She opened the small white jewelry box that stood on top of it and began rummaging through it. "I think I have something that might help you. You know, when I was your age, I used to be afraid of monsters in the closet too. I thought there was a monster with pointy ears and sharp teeth living in my closet named Mr. Teeth."

"You did?"

Mira nodded. "I did. But I had something that I knew would keep the monsters away." She found what she was looking for and withdrew it from the the jewelry box, before shutting it and moving back to crouch next to Kylie again. "I had this."

She held out what she had retrieved from the jewelry box. It was a small, copper key. Kylie looked at it uncertainly. "A key kept the monsters away?"

Mira looked offended. "Oh, now, this isn't just _any_ key! This key was given to me by a very special man! A Doctor, in fact. A Doctor who told me he could go anywhere he wanted, with a tip of his hat and a wave of his magic umbrella!"

A small grin formed on Kylie's face. "You're makin' that up."

"I am not!" Mira made an x over her chest. "Cross my heart! He gave me this key and told me that when I held it, I could be anywhere I wanted to be! Go anywhere I wanted to! And if the monsters came when I had it, I could make them go away too!"

Kylie's eyes had grown wide now. "Did it work?"

Mira stood and walked over to her closet. She opened it, revealing a messy clutter of clothes and shoes. "Do you see Mr. Teeth? He was really big and green, kinda hard to miss."

Kylie shook her head. "Nuh uh. I don't see anything!"

Mira closed the closet and returned to her sister's side. "That's right. It's because I made him go away with the Doctor's magic key. And you know what else? Do you know when the Doctor gave me this key?"

Kylie shook her head again.

Mira smiled. "It was the night you were born."

Kylie's smile was broad now. "Really?"

Mira nodded. "God's honest truth. So… here ya go." She held the key out to her sister, who hesitantly took it. "Now, if your shadow monster shows up, you just show him that. He'll disappear." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that." Kylie looked at the key in awe. Mira slowly stood. "Now… can I turn off the lights?"

Kylie looked up at her, before glancing at the key. Slowly, she nodded. Mira sighed inwardly with relief and flicked the lights off, before making her way back to her bed and climbing under the covers.

"Goodnight, Kylie," she said.

"Goodnight, Mira."

Mira snuggled down against her pillow. Okay, so maybe she'd embellished the fairy tale the strange doctor had told her the night her sister was born. But a fairy tale was a fairy tale, right? And it seemed to make Kylie feel better. That was what counted.

Besides, it wasn't _all_ made up. She _had_ used the key to make herself feel better when she was a kid. She'd carried that key everywhere for a while. In her young naivety, she actually _had _believed that the Doctor would eventually come back for her. She was around 14 or 15 when she finally stopped carrying the key around with her and had confined it to her jewelry box.

It was weird. She hadn't given the key a second thought for years now. It was strange that she'd suddenly remembered it tonight.

Mira closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Now was the time.

It slid out from under the bed in the little one's room. The lights were out and the little one and her elder sibling were dormant. It could sense that.

It slid across the floor and beneath the closed door. Down the hallway.

It could feel the thrill of anticipation. The sustenance would be good tonight. It would make it strong. It would make it powerful. It would finally achieve its form.

And then it would taste blood.

It entered Mira's room.

And there she lay. The little one, huddled beneath her sleeping covers.

It smiled to herself.

And it spoke.

"Kyyyyliiiie…" It croaked her name. It had learned it from the one she called Dad. It had awoken her several times before by calling her name, but always the Dad had been there to chase him away.

But the Dad wasn't here now. The children were alone, with no one to protect them. The little one's fear would be completely unbridled. The sustenance would be more bountiful than ever before.

The little one shuddered in her sleep.

"Kyyyyyliiiiie…" It croaked again. It was important that it woke her and not her elder sibling.

The little one whimpered. She was beginning to stir. She drew a closed hand up near her face. The creature drew closer now.

"Kyyyy-"

It froze. Something was shimmering softly in the little one's hand. It was a strange shimmer, but somehow familiar.

The little one stirred more. Her hand opened, and the object in it fell out onto her pillow.

And burst into a blinding white light.

The creature shrieked. It knew what the object was! It was an object very well known to its people. It was an object that belonged to _them_! The hated ones from the Kasterborous constellation!

The wretched filthy Time Lords!

It snarled and slithered out of the room.

And then the doorbell rang.

* * *

Mira sat bolt upright in bed, disoriented. For a split second, she thought she saw a shadowy figure standing over Kylie, but then it was gone.

The doorbell rang again. The doorbell? Why was it ringing? Was that what woke her up?

"Mira? Whass goin' on?" Kylie slowly sat up too.

Groggily, Mira pulled herself out of bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "It's alright. Just go back to sleep. I'll be right back."

She began heading toward the bedroom door. Already her sleep-muddled mind was beginning to clear. Who in the world could possibly be ringing the doorbell at this hour? And just what did she plan on doing when she got downstairs? Opening the door? Calling the police?

"Mira!" Kylie sounded more frantic this time.

"It's alright, it's probably just some idiot kids. I'll be right-"

"The key!"

Mira paused, turning back toward her sister. "What about the-"

It was glowing. More than that. Kylie was sitting up now, wide awake. A white hot light was bursting forth from the key that she still held in her hand.

"Mira? What… what does this mean? Is this how it keeps the monsters away?"

"I don't… I don't know. Kylie, maybe you should put that down for now, and-"

The doorbell rang a third time. Kylie, the key momentarily forgotten, scrunched up her face. "Is someone ringin' the doorbell? Who's ringin' the doorbell?"

Mira was getting frustrated. "Look, just… put the key down, stay here, and I'm gonna go check the door. I'll be right back."

Kylie nodded. "Okay." She didn't put the key down. And Mira didn't feel like arguing with her. Sighing, she headed out the door and downstairs.

The doorbell rang again just as Mira reached the front door. Her trepidation completely replaced by irritation now, she flung the door open without thinking about it.

"What the hell is it?" She snarled, only just now remembering she had no idea who was on the other side.

The man who stood there looked startled and strange looking. It took Mira a moment to realize just how strange looking.

He was tall and thin, with longish, wavy brown hair, and piercing blue eyes. He wore a long, knee length, old fashioned looking, green satin coat, over a gold colored waistcoat, a high collared white shirt, and grey cravat. Neatly pressed grey slacks and expensive looking, polished black shoes rounded off the outfit. He looked, to Mira, like a character out of a Jane Austen novel.

It took a moment, but the man's look of shock transformed abruptly into a broad smile.

"Ah, hello. I'm terribly sorry to wake you at this hour but I'm looking for a little girl named Miranda Valor. I've promised her an adventure!"

* * *

**AN: **_Reviews make me dance and sing. To be continued shortly!_


	3. A New Face

**Chapter Two: A New Face**

Mira shook her head. "I'm sorry, what?"

"An adventure," replied the strange man in the old fashioned, green velvet jacket and long wavy hair, still grinning. "Miranda Valor. I promised her I'd take her on one. Is she here?"

Mira's confusion coupled with the fact that her brain was still slightly sleep addled, prevented her from completely contemplating what it was the man was saying and she was only able to stammer. "Erm… Mira. I go by Mira now. Nobody's called me Miranda since I was in gradeschool…"

The man's grin slowly vanished and he stared at her, uncomprehending for a few moments. Then, as if something dawned on him, his eyes snapped wide. "Oh. Oh! Oh my…"He withdrew a pocket watch from his waistcoat and snapped it open, staring intently at its face. "It's not 2001 is it? Oh dear, I've over shot again, haven't I? And I was so certain this time. Well, can't go back further now that I've spoken to you. Laws of time and whatnot. Sad."

Mira shook her head. "I can't even begin to ask you who the hell you are and what you're doing here."

"Can't you? It sounds like you just did." The man still hadn't looked up from his pocket watch. "Listen, are you _sure_ you're Miranda Valor?"

Mira's eyes narrowed, but before she could speak again, Kylie was suddenly at her side. "Mira? Who is it?"

Mira sighed. "Nice. Thanks for staying in my room like I asked you to."

The man looked up from his pocket watch and smiled when he saw Kylie. He crouched down in front of her. "Oh my goodness. Is this Kylie? Are you Kylie?" He stuck out his hand. "Hello, Kylie!"

Kylie giggled and took the man's hand. The man shook hands vigorously. "Yeah, I'm Kylie. Who are you?"

"Kylie, I'm the Doctor!"

Kylie and Mira's eyes widened in unison. "You are?" Kylie exclaimed.

"No you're not." Mira said.

"Yes I am." The Doctor stood back up, regarding her. "My goodness, look how much you've changed. It must be… ten years later?" The Doctor stuck a finger in his mouth before holding it up as if testing the direction of the wind. "Is it 2011? It is, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's 2011." Mira reached over and grabbed the door, getting ready to shut it. "Congratulations, Professor Einstein. Get lost."

Kylie grabbed her arm. "But Mira, it's the Doctor!"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, Mira! It's the Doctor!"

"No, it's not!" Mira glared at him. "The Doctor I met, the funny, little, Scottish Doctor, with the question mark umbrella, was most certainly _not_ you!"

"What?" The Doctor's eyes narrowed in confusion before once again exploding in realization. "Oh, yes. That. I can explain that."

Mira crossed her arms. "Alright. Explain that."

"Yes. I changed my face."

Mira raised her eyebrows. "You… changed your face?"

The Doctor nodded and smiled. "Yes."

"Really? That's the best you can do?"

The Doctor's smile faltered. "Erm… yes?"

Mira rolled her eyes and reached out to shut the door again, when Kylie once more grabbed her arm. "But, Mira, what if he's here to stop the monster?"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "Monster, what monster?"

Kylie looked up at him. "The shadow monster that lives in my closet! Your key scared him away!"

"My key?"

Kylie nodded, before holding up the key. It still shimmered softly, but the bright, seering light had subsided. "Mira said you gave it to her when she was little."

The Doctor smiled at her. "I did, yes. That _is_ my key. I'd forgotten about that."

Mira shook her head. "Kylie, this isn't the Doctor."

And with that, Mira tried to swing the door shut.

"Wait!" The Doctor stuck his foot in the frame and the door bounced off it, hard. The Doctor's eyes went wide, and he stumbled backward, hissing through clenched teeth. "Ow, ow, _ow_! What is that, oak? Wow, that hurt a lot more than I thought it would!"

Mira glowered at him and slammed the door. The Doctor stumbled forward and began hammering on the door. "Miranda! Miranda, wait! It really is me! I can go get that umbrella, if that'd prove anything! I still have it… somewhere… I think! Besides, what's this business about a monster? I'm good with monsters, I can help! Miranda!"

* * *

Mira leaned against the door and shut her eyes. She couldn't believe how badly this _stung_. She'd always thought of the Doctor as just this nice little memory she had, nothing more, nothing less. True as a child she'd spent a great deal of time waiting for him to come back, but in the end as she grew older she'd of course realized he wasn't going to come back. And that was that.

So why had she taken this wacko claiming to be him so personally?

Because someone put him up to it, a voice in the back of her head proclaimed. You told so many of your friends about the Doctor when you were little, it could've been _any _of them! And someone's screwing with you.

Really? Another, more sensible voice countered. Someone's screwing with you? Years after you stopped believing he was coming back, probably more than a decade since you mentioned him to any of your friends, at 3 a.m. someone just randomly decides to put this nutjob, dressed like Mr. Darcy up to claiming he was the Doctor? 'Cause that makes sense.

Mira could feel tears beginning to sting her eyes. She didn't know what to believe. And on top of that, he wouldn't stop banging on the door! For all she know, both voices were wrong, and this guy was dangerous!

"I'm gonna call the police if you don't leave!" Mira shouted. The banging abruptly ceased.

"You slammed the door on his foot!" Kylie suddenly exclaimed, and Mira jumped. She'd forgotten her sister was there.

"He was trying to get into the house, Kylie." Mira turned and glanced through the peephole. She couldn't see him if he was still out there.

Kylie furrowed her brow. "No he wasn't. He was gonna help us with the monster! And you slammed the door on his foot!"

Mira wheeled on Kylie. "Kylie, that wasn't the Doctor, okay? That was just some crazy guy, knocking on the door. He was probably dangerous!"

Kylie shrunk back. "I thought he seemed nice."

Mira rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, someday you'll grow up and realize you can't just instantly trust every maniac that comes along ringing the doorbell in the middle of the night."

Kylie held up the key. "Well, then how do you explain this key glowing right before he showed up, huh? This key that the Doctor gave you!"

She has a point, the sensible voice offered.

"It was a trick of the streetlight shining through my window or something." Mira waved her sister off. "Look, I've gotta find a phone. I'm going to call the police. Go back to my room, alright?"

Kylie glared at her. "You're a jerk sometimes, ya know that?"

"Yup. Room. Go."

Kylie stormed off with a huff.

* * *

It cowered in the little one's closet. Time Lord! There was a Time Lord here! How they had so quickly discovered that it was here was a mystery, but more than that, it was irrelevant. It was weak! It was too weak to combat a Time Lord of all things! How could this have happened?

And it could feel the sustenance slipping away. It could feel the little one's fear disappearing utterly. It was that wretched piece of Time Lord technology she had been holding. Whatever it was, it comforted the little one.

It could sense the Time Lord was close. It could feel it! And without the fear of the little one to feed off of, it wouldn't be able to manifest. It would be trapped in its transitional state until it simply wasted away to nothing!

It could feel fear of its own enveloping it. It wasn't an emotion it was used to experiencing. Inflicting, yes. Not feeling!

But then it felt something else.

There was still fear here.

The little one no longer felt it.

But it was coming off of the older one, the Mira, in waves. Even from here, it could feel it. It was thick and rich. The sustenance must've been there for weeks! It had spent so much time working on the little one, it'd never even thought to turn its gaze to the Mira. Generally, the little ones were easier to feed off of.

And it wasn't just fear. It was hate. Doubt. Confusion. Negative emotions wafting off of her that were so powerful, it might be able to do more than just feed. It might be able to influence her. Those in the throes of despair were very susceptible to psychic influence from its kind.

How could it not have seen this before?

It smiled to itself. If it could isolate the Mira. Get her away from the Time Lord.

It would feast.

And then it would have a chance.

It plotted.

* * *

Mira picked up the phone in the kitchen, cradled it against her ear, and reached up to dial 911, before pausing.

Was this _really_ necessary? Yes, she was upset. Yes, seeing someone claiming to be the Doctor had been jarring, especially since it was an imposter.

But was the guy really dangerous? Maybe it _was_ just a prank. Maybe she should just let it go and go to sleep.

That was when she realized there was no dial tone.

"Kylie?" Mira's eyes narrowed. "Kylie, did you take the phone off the hook to keep me from calling the police?"

"Ah, no. Afraid not. I'm on the line, that's why you can't make any outgoing calls. Listen, we need to talk, my dear." The voice on the other end was him. The man claiming to be the Doctor.

Mira slammed the phone back onto the receiver. She stared at it, unable to move.

How? How could that have happened?

"It didn't," Mira finally said to herself. "You're stressed, it's late, and your mind is playing tricks on you. You should just go to-"

Mira jumped when the phone suddenly rang.

"No way." She let the phone ring three more times before finally picking it up.

"I don't mean to scold, but that was just a little bit rude." He was still on the other line, speaking before Mira could even say anything. "Now, will you please let me explain myself?"

"How are you doing this?" Mira glanced around the kitchen, her eyes wide. "Are you in the house?"

"No, not in the house. Back yard actually. It's pretty simple, I just had to figure out the frequency of your phone line and tap into it with the sonic screwdriver and..." The Doctor trailed off. "Look, none of this is really going to make any sense to you right now, so I'll explain later. Now, your sister said something about a shadow monster in your house?"

Mira sighed. "She's a ten year old girl and she thinks there's a shadowy monster that lives in her closet. It's not that uncommon."

"No, it's not. Children have senses that are much more highly tuned than adults. Also they tend to accept what they see rather than rationalize away things that make them uncomfortable."

Mira raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean."

"Nothing. May I come inside, please?"

"No!" Mira leaned over the sink, glancing through the window above it trying to see where the Doctor might be. "Look, seriously, who put you up to this?"

"Um… I did?"

"I'm gonna hang up!"

"Miranda, please! What is it going to take to convince you I am who I say I am?"

Miranda crossed her arms. "Nothing. You can't convince me, because I know you're not him. I remember what he looked like. I'll never forget what he looked like. And you are _not_ him. Goodnight!"

"Miranda, _wait-_"

Miranda slammed the phone down on the receiver and slumped against the counter, covering her eyes with her hands. Hot tears ran down her face.

"What is _wrong_ with me?"

"Everything, child. Everything is wrong, isn't it?"

Startled, Mira quickly spun in the direction of the eerie, hissing voice. What she saw caused her voice to catch in her throat.

Cast on the door to the darkened kitchen was a tall, man shaped shadow. Two glowing red eyes stared at her from the shadow's head. She knew in an instant it was the monster Kylie saw in her closet. It was real. She could feel the air in the kitchen growing colder, just as it had been in Kylie's room. She wanted to move. Wanted to run. But she was frozen in terror… or maybe it was some strange, supernatural influence this creature had on her. It didn't matter. Either way she couldn't move.

The shadowy creature hissed and the room grew colder still. It slithered off the door and across the floor, before stopping just in front of Mira. Its eyes stared up at her.

"I felt your silent cries of anguish. They were intoxicating. You have pain, my child. Deep, powerful, pain…"

Mira definitely couldn't move now. Whatever it was, this creature _did_ have some kind of hold on her. "What… what are you?"

The creature's eyes narrowed. "What I am is irrelevant. What I'm here to do is everything. Your suffering is palpable, child. I wouldn't be here if it weren't. But I can end it for you. I can relieve your pain."

Mira's head was beginning to feel cloudy. Her fear was beginning to trickle away but she couldn't explain why. "I… I don't have any pain. I don't know what you're talking about."

The creature chortled. "Of course you do. You cannot lie to me about your fears. Your doubts. Your confusion. Your hate."

Mira blinked. Why was it becoming so hard to think? "My hate?"

"Yes. Your hate. You hate it all, don't you? Your parents for casting you aside. Your miserable sister for disrupting everything. Your life as it stands now. Directionless. Aimless. Pointless."

"That's not true!" Mira shook her head. "I don't hate anyone…"

"No? Even in spite of everything? Nobody cared what your plans were this weekend, did they? Your sister just got dumped on you and you were just expected to watch her. Nobody sees what's going on with you. Nobody sees how terrified you are, do they?" Mira couldn't respond. She couldn't think. She could only hear what the creature was saying. And the more it spoke, the more right it sounded. "Terrified of what's ahead of you. Of what's to come. You're going to be all alone. No one's going to hold your hand through your future. A future you're unprepared for. A future you're going to be forced to deal with, whether you're ready for it or not."

Hopeless. It was all hopeless. Tears streamed down Mira's face. "I'm so scared of the future. I don't want to make the wrong decisions, but what if I do?"

The shadowy creature slithered off the floor and began enveloping Mira. "Don't worry, child. I can take it all away from you. You needn't be worried any longer. But first, we must leave this place. We will go to where this all began. So tell me, darling Mira… where did all your pain begin?"

Mira closed her eyes, and the blackness took her over.

* * *

**AN:** _As per usual, read and review please! To be continued shortly!_


	4. The Deepest Dark

**Chapter Three: The Deepest Dark**

The Doctor had pondered his next move for about five minutes before deciding it couldn't hurt to try knocking on the door again. After the way Miranda (Mira, Mira, Mira, Mira! She liked to be called Mira now, apparently, so he'd do well to remember that!) had hung up on him so forcefully on the phone he'd figured trying to call the house again, via sonic screwdriver, was a pointless effort. She'd probably just disconnected the phone by now anyway. But she couldn't disconnect his arm!

Unless she could. With an axe, maybe. Or some other large, sharp object.

The Doctor paused, his knuckles inches from the door, considering this, before deciding perhaps it was best _not_ to consider it. He promptly knocked on the door.

Nothing. No defiant shouts telling him to go away or she'd call the police.

He knocked again.

Still nothing.

He knocked one last time, just to make sure.

He supposed she _could've_ been just ignoring him but given the emotional state she was in after seeing him he somehow doubted that she would. He supposed he couldn't blame her. He'd probably react badly too if someone he hadn't seen in years had suddenly shown up on his doorstep looking completely different.

Actually, being a centuries old Time Lord, seeing close, dear friends' faces and even personalities completely change was perfectly normal for him.

But still! He understood the principle and could empathize.

He was rambling internally. It was something he did quite often, particularly when he was nervous about something and he _was_ quite nervous. Something didn't feel at all right about this. He'd been suspicious ever since he'd heard Mira's sister mention something about a shadow monster.

There were lots of nasty things that lurked in the universe and took the forms of shadows. Like the Vashta Nerada. But somehow, this didn't feel like Vashta Nerada. They didn't lurk in closets and frighten children. They voraciously ate children. And pretty much everything else.

There was, however, one race that not only delighted in frightening children, they gleaned sustenance from it.

"Sonic screwdriver!" The Doctor suddenly slapped his forehead. "Why am I bothering with all this knocking nonsense?"

Reaching into the folds of his coat, he withdrew the red tipped device and aimed it at the door's deadbolt. It was a bit nerve wracking. The sonic had been acting up quite a bit lately. Sparking and smoking. It was getting old, he suspected. But he'd seen what had happened when they malfunctioned.

They had a tendency to explode. And it would be a mite embarrassing if he accidently blew his arm off while trying to open a measly deadbolt.

The door opened and the Doctor jumped back.

Kylie stood on the other side.

"Erm…" The Doctor quickly replaced the sonic screwdriver in his coat. "Hello again!"

"Hi." Kylie looked very worried. "Umm… Doctor? Do you know where Mira is?"

The Doctor tilted his head. "She's not with you? In there?"

Kylie shook her head and the Doctor noticed then the tears in her eyes. "I think it got her. I think the shadow monster took her away."

The Doctor knelt down to Kylie's level and placed a hand on her shoulder. He flashed her a broad grin. "Well then. Let's go and get her back, shall we?

* * *

Mira was cold. She was surrounded by blackness and she was alone.

No. She wasn't alone. She was worse than alone.

_It_ was with her. _It_ had tricked her. She didn't know how it had gotten inside her head but it had. It had lured her away from her house.

She wasn't sure where she was. It had taken her somewhere but she was weak. She wasn't sure how they had gotten there. The trip had seemed instantaneous and stomach churning. She could feel the cold tile on the palms of her hands as she knelt on the floor. Her vision was foggy. She couldn't see and she could barely think. She knew only that it was dark and cold. And she was scared. She was terrified. She could feel herself growing weaker, feel _it_ growing stronger.

It was draining the life out of her.

And she was terrified.

* * *

Kylie watched the strangely dressed Doctor run to and fro around the kitchen.

"I think it happened in here." Kylie wasn't sure if he was talking to her or muttering to himself. He stuck his finger in his mouth before feeling the air. "Yes. Some sort of transference definitely happened in here." He squinted, glancing around the room. "The air around here is rife with energy. And not an energy normally found on earth, either." He glanced over at Kylie. "How long has this shadow monster been around?"

Kylie shrugged. "My closets always been kinda scary at night. But I saw its eyes for the first time about two weeks ago. Its red glowing eyes."

The Doctor nodded. "And it looks like a shadow. Like, say, the shadow of a tall, cloaked figure? Maybe a foot taller than me?"

"Yeah!" Kylie was excited. Nobody ever really asked about the monster before. She knew most of the adults she told about it, like her dad or her sister, just dismissed everything she'd said about it. "Yeah, that's exactly what it looked like! How'd you know?"

The Doctor looked grim. "I've seen one before. They're called the Shadowkind."

Kylie's eyes widened. "They?"

"Oh yes. They're a species from the Dark Times." The Doctor withdrew a strange device from his coat and mused over it. It looked to Kylie kind of like one of those things her dad used to check the air pressure in his car's tires, only it was a bit longer and thicker, and the tip was red with a silver ring around it. "They were quite plentiful then. Used to cling to Great Vampires like sucker fish and feed off the misery they left in their wake. They can take a physical form if they've enough strength and a mind to, though generally they stay in their phased state. If they're starving, they tend to regress permanently into the phased state until they've gleaned enough sustenance to regain a physical form. I've a feeling that might be the agenda of this particular Shadowkind."

"Great Vampire?" Kylie's eyes had gone wide the moment the Doctor had mentioned that particular phrase.

The Doctor offered her a small grin. "Ah, yes. Don't worry about that, there aren't any of _those_ left. Not anymore. The Time Lord's saw to that."

Kylie's head was spinning. The Doctor talked a lot and she was having a lot of trouble keeping up with what he was saying. "Wait… what's a Time Lord?"

The Doctor paused and looked at her. "Me. I'm a Time Lord. My people are _the_ Time Lords."

"Your people?"

The Doctor nodded. "I'm… well, I'm not exactly from earth, Kylie."

Kylie's eyes widened. "You're a alien?"

The Doctor smiled at her. "That's right. I'm from Gallifrey. It's a planet a long ways away from here."

Kylie looked him up and down. "But you look like a person."

The Doctor shook his head. "Actually, people look like Time Lords. It's a common misconception."

"Oh." Kylie thought this over, before her mind went back to the real problem at hand. "Okay. So, lemme see if I've got all this straight. The monster in my closet is a… a Shadowkind? It's an alien too, right?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes."

"And it scared me because it… eats fear?"

The Doctor paused. "Well, in a manner of speaking. Essentially, Shadowkind are entirely composed of the same kind of negative energy humans and many other species produce when experiencing negative emotions; pain, fear, doubt, hate, confusion. Those kinds of things. Are you with me so far?"

"I think so…"

"Well, it is through these negative emotions that the Shadowkind is able to establish a link with its victims. What it _actually_ devours is life force. But in order to get at that life force, it must establish the psychic connection through fear, doubt, etc. And the stronger the fear, the more life force it can eat."

"So…" Kylie thought about this for a moment. "It makes you scared and then it can suck the life out of you?"

The Doctor nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! Smart girl."

Kylie's eyes went wide. "So… it's been draining the life out of me? But I feel fine."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, that makes sense. If a Shadowkind kills its victim then it's out of a food source. Usually it only takes what it needs to survive. Its victim will build back up the little life force that was drained away. And then the process starts anew. And that's typically as far as it goes. They rarely make their presence concretely known, much less go as far as kidnapping a victim. This one must be desperate. Which might sort of be my fault."

Kylie cocked her head. "Your fault? How?"

The Doctor avoided her gaze. "Well, Shadowkind aren't exactly fond of Time Lords. You said it was frightened away after it saw that key glowing?" Kylie nodded. "Well, the key was glowing because I had arrived. And the Shadowkind must've recognized the glow of a Time Lord artifact. So, in desperation, I believe it kidnapped your sister in order to drain enough of her life force so that it could gain physical form and defend itself."

"Oh… um… how much life force does it need to do that?"

The Doctor winced. "Well… probably a lot?"

Kylie's eyes widened. "Is it gonna…?"

The Doctor knelt down in front of her, gripping her by the shoulders. "No. Absolutely not. We're going to find your sister before that happens." He stood, looking at the device he held, before finally pointing at the floor. "And I know exactly how we're going to do it. You might want to step back."

Kylie did so, and the Doctor pressed a button. The red tip began to glow and it made a strange, mechanical humming noise.

"What is that?" Kylie asked.

The Doctor kept wincing away from the device, as he scanned the floor with it. "Sonic screwdriver. It does lots of things. Among them, it scans for energy signatures." There was a pop, and sparks suddenly shot from the tip of what the Doctor said was a screwdriver. "I'm going to find the exact energy signature this Shadowkind left behind when it transported itself and your sister away. Then we're going to follow that signature to where they went!"

Kylie noticed that the screwdriver was beginning to smoke now. The tip seemed to be glowing brighter and the whirring was sounding uneven. "How're we going to do that?"

"Got it!" The Doctor held the screwdriver up to his face, but didn't switch it off. Black smoke was pouring out of it, and the tip was burning red now. "Unfortunately, the sonic's been acting up lately. I can't store the signature. Which means if I don't want to lose it, I'm going to have to keep the screwdriver running 'til we get to the TARDIS." The Doctor abruptly ran out of the kitchen. "Come along, Kylie! We're going to have to be very quick about this!"

Kylie paused before running after the Doctor. "What's a tardis?"

* * *

"Stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." The Doctor declared as he sprinted across the backyard. The sonic screwdriver was now pouring smoke and liberally sparking but Kylie barely noticed.

She stood awestruck at the edge of the yard, staring at the large, blue box that the Doctor was sprinting toward. The words "Police Box" glowed around it's top. "What is-?"

"It's a space ship, of sorts." The Doctor quickly fumbled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door on the side of the box. He ran inside and slammed the door shut behind him. A moment went by before the door opened again. "Hurry, Kylie, we really don't have a lot of time!"

Kylie blinked before running across the yard. She could feel the wet grass against her bare feet as she went. "This is a space ship? It kinda looks like a big phone booth. And it says 'Police Box.' What's a-" She crossed the threshold and froze.

A massive, gothic chamber spread out before her. The floors were hardwood and lit candelabras stood here and there. An easy chair rested in one corner, in front of it a coffee table with a bowl containing a heap of jelly candies on it. A massive bookshelf ran the length of a wall on the other side of the room, which was several hundred feet away from the door Kylie stood in front of. In the center of the room, surrounded by six massive, iron struts, was a six sided console with a bunch of buttons, switches, levers, pumps, and a bunch of other devices littering its surface. The console itself was on a slightly raised, hexagonal dias. Coming out of the top of the console was a large cylindrical glass column, with what looked some kind of crystals inside of it bobbing up and down. Kylie was about to turn and walk out when the Doctor suddenly pulled the door shut.

"Yes, it's big on the inside small on the outside." He said quickly before dashing toward the six sided console. "I'll let you walk around the outside 'til your heart's content later but right now we have to move very quickly." He plugged the sonic screwdriver, which was now flashing red and sparking continuously into the console, before throwing a bunch of switches and pressing a bunch of buttons. The entire room began shaking, and from all around Kylie heard an unearthly mechanical, yet at the same time somehow living, groan. "You're going to want to grab ahold of something, I don't really have time to make this a smooth flight."

Before Kylie could even register what he had said, the entire room lurched to the left. The Doctor gripped the edges of the console, while Kylie fell to the floor in a heap. She managed to drag herself over to a nearby support beam and pulled herself to her feet. "Doctor? How long would it take the monster to drain the life out of Mira?"

The Doctor spun a valve on the console. "Probably only a few minutes."

Kylie's face fell. "But Doctor, it's been, like, twenty minutes since Mira disappeared!"

"Well, it's a good thing this is a time machine then, now isn't it?" The Doctor moved to another side of the console, his hands dancing across the controls. "Twenty minutes you say?"

Kylie paused. "Maybe a little longer even? What do you mean it's a time machine?"

The Doctor nodded. "We'll say twenty minutes." He threw another switch and the room suddenly lurched to the right. Kylie held on as tight as she could.

* * *

Mira's head was spinning. Everything was so cloudy and she couldn't even form thoughts. Her eyelids were so heavy, her vision so blurred with tears. She was so scared and so tired.

"I just want it to end…" she moaned, unaware that she had even spoken.

"It all will end, soon enough." The unearthly, hissing voice emanated from the darkness. She couldn't see what was speaking but she knew. It was the shadow monster. The one from Kylie's closet. "Your fear is exquisite, child. The connection with you is much deeper than that of your sibling. I worked on her for weeks when you were right there the whole time."

She didn't know what it was talking about, but it didn't matter. It was killing her. She knew that now.

Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered. Not anymore. Her future, terrifying and uncertain, no longer mattered. The imposter Doctor who had shown up, who had so infuriated her no longer mattered. Her sister, so exasperating, no longer mattered. Her parents, who probably wouldn't even miss her.

None of it mattered.

"That's right," the creature hissed. It could hear what she was thinking, she realized. "None of them matter. Nothing matters anymore. It's all just crumbling dust. You are cold and alone in the vastness of the universe. You always have been. But your pain will be ending soon."

Something cold and clammy touched the top of her head. She didn't even have the strength to look up at it. But she knew what it was.

It was a hand. The creature was becoming solid now.

And it didn't matter.

Despair had overtaken everything. She was alone, in the deepest dark.

And then there was a sound. A sound that made the clammy hand on her head tense up.

An ancient sounding groaning and churning that seemed to emanate from everywhere at once.

* * *

The Doctor dashed out of the TARDIS and almost immediately skidded to a halt so quickly Kylie nearly crashed headlong into his back.

"Hang on." He glanced around, squinting. "I think I've been here before."

Kylie looked around as well. They were in a darkened hall of some sort. Clear plastic tarpaulin draped the walls on either side of them. Lying on the tiled floor here and there were half cut two-by-fours, power tools, and saw horses. The smell of sawdust in the air tickled Kylie's nose. Wherever they were it looked heavily under construction.

The Doctor reached up with the funny looking umbrella he'd grabbed while they were aboard his spaceship or whatever it was, and brushed aside the tarp to his right. Behind it, Kylie saw glass, and beyond that what seemed to be a large, empty room. It was difficult to see in the darkness.

"Doctor, where are we?"

The Doctor's eyes were narrowed. "I believe, Kylie, we're in a hospital. The same hospital you were born in."

"What?" Kylie glanced around. "Why would we be there?"

"Not sure." The Doctor let the tarp fall back into place before glancing around himself. "There appears to be some remodeling of some sort, but I believe we're standing in the exact same spot where I first met your sister." He gestured with the umbrella to the tarpaulin he'd just allowed to fall back into place. "I believe that's the incubation room."

Kylie wrinkled her nose at the umbrella. "Why did you bring that?"

"Hmm?" The Doctor looked at her before dropping his gaze to the umbrella. "Oh, this. Might have a plan. Involves this. We'll see. Come along, we have to find your sister."

With that, the Doctor sprinted down the hallway. Kylie followed close behind. At the end of the hall was a pair of double swinging doors. The Doctor dashed through them. When Kylie followed she nearly crashed into the Doctor once again.

"Doctor, you've got to stop-" She froze mid-sentence. The doors opened up into a second hallway, similar to the first. And several yards in front of them, kneeling in the middle of the hall, was Mira. She looked pale, dazed, and sickly and didn't seem to see the two of them. But Kylie hardly noticed that.

The thing standing behind Mira had her full attention.

It was tall, taller than the Doctor. It was wearing a pitch black, hooded cloak that hid most of its features, but Kylie could see its blood red eyes glowing from within the folds of its hood. A boney, clawed, sheet-white hand rested on Mira's head.

"Oh, dear," the Doctor said softly. "It seems to have gained physical form."

The creature chortled. "You're too late, Time Lord. Very little of her life force remains." It released the hold it had on her, and Mira fell face first to the floor. "My connection with her is complete, and I am whole again." It glided past the prone girl and began moving swiftly toward the Doctor. "And now, you die!"

"I see." The Doctor handed Kylie the umbrella. "Take this. Give it to your sister."

No sooner had Kylie taken it, than the Doctor turned and dashed back through the double doors. The creature hissed and followed, gliding straight past Kylie ignoring her completely. Kylie felt a stabbing blast of frigid air as it passed.

For a moment, Kylie couldn't register what had just happened. Then she remembered her sister. Her eyes went wide and she ran to Mira's side.

Mira lay on the ground, her eyes closed.

She wasn't moving.

* * *

**AN: **_To be concluded shortly! Reviews would be lovely!_


	5. The Brightest Light

**Chapter Four: The Brightest Light**

Mira could feel the heat of the sun shining down on her face as her eyes slowly fluttered open. A crystal clear blue sky greeted her and after a moment she slowly raised herself up to a sitting position. She was seated on grass, still in her pajama pants and tank top, in what looked like the center of a vast field.

It was several more moments before she was coherent enough to realize how strange this was. It was a bit hazy, but she remembered well enough that when she'd slipped into unconsciousness, she hadn't been in the middle of such a cheery scene.

She'd been at the hospital. Where "it" had all begin as that creature had put it. She shuddered where she sat. That creature. That monster that poor Kylie had been trying to warn them all about, but they'd all just ignored it as the ramblings of a frightened child. That horrible shadow thing. Though it hadn't been a shadow at the end, had it? It had gained a form.

She remembered vividly the feel of its unnaturally large, clammy hand clamped over the top of her head. She remembered that hand tensing up when…

When what? There was nothing after that. That was when everything had been enveloped in darkness.

Mira's eyes suddenly shot wide and her heart began to thump in her chest when the enormity of this suddenly struck her. This field. This cheery, sunny scene. It was so ethereal. It was other worldly.

She was dead. The creature had been draining the life out of her and it had killed her. And now she was dead and this… this was the afterlife!

"Don't worry, you're not dead. Close but not quite."

The voice coming from behind Mira startled her, and she quickly sprang to her feet, spinning around.

Behind her stood a massive, lush, and sturdy looking old oak tree. It was only a few feet away from her, close enough that she was confused as to how she hadn't noticed it sooner. Its leaves were lush and green, and nearly seemed to glow in the brilliant light of the overhead sun.

And seated in the tree, on a particularly sturdy looking limb, smiling down warmly at Mira, was a small girl. Her skin was a near porcelain white, her hair a long, flowing, platinum blonde. Even from where she stood on the ground, Mira could see how vividly bright and blue the girl's eyes were. She looked young, even younger than Kylie. No more than eight at the most. Her silky, white sleeveless dress hung down over the edges of the branch she straddled.

And Mira suddenly felt calmed. As the little girl smiled down at her, her legs swinging back and forth below the branch, Mira could feel her heartbeat slow to its normal pace (her heart was still beating, that was a good sign, right?), could feel her panic subsiding. She couldn't explain why, but something about the little girl felt… right. It was as if calming waves exuded from her, a feeling of harmony so palpable, Mira could almost see it rolling off the girl's skin in wispy, white, shimmery waves.

If there was a polar opposite to the hideous shadow monster that had held her in its grip, Mira was pretty sure she was looking at her right now.

"Hi!" The little girl's grin grew broader. "I'm Dawn!"

Mira stared for a moment longer before blinking and shaking her head. "Um… Mira. I'm Mira."

The little girl, Dawn, nodded. "Yup. I know." In a shocking display of agility for a girl her (apparent) age, she suddenly hopped up to a standing position on the branch and began walking along its length, her arms outstretched on either side of her, like a trapeze artist.

Mira glanced around. The field seemed to stretch off into infinity in all directions, the only break in the flatness being the tree. The sky itself was a crystal clear blue, except just over the horizon line to her west a line of dark clouds seemed to be rolling in. She turned back to Dawn. "I'm… very confused."

Dawn nodded, balancing very precariously on the edge of the branch. "Yup. Life's pretty confusin' sometimes, isn't it?"

"Uh… yeah." Mira crossed her arms. "Look, I'm having a pretty weird night. Could we just cut to the chase and tell me exactly where I am and what's going on? And who exactly are you? And…" she trailed off, not even sure what to ask at this point.

Dawn giggled at her. "You's sure gotta lotta questions, Miss Mira."

Mira nodded. "I do. Mind answering any of them?"

Dawn made a face at her, turning abruptly where she stood on the branch's edge toward Mira, as if forgetting the laws of gravity applied to. For all Mira knew, maybe they didn't here. "Jeez Louise, no need to get huffy."

In spite of the strangeness of the whole situation and the calming waves Dawn exuded, Mira could feel her temper beginning to flare up ever so slightly. "Look, it's not every day I almost get the life sucked out of me by some horrible, shadow monster that lives in my sister's closet. This of course occurring after some lunatic shows up at three o'clock in the morning pretending to be someone I met when I was a child and made a very fond memory with, despite the fact that he clearly _isn't_ said person! It's been a bit of an emotional evening, so I hope you'll pardon me if I'm slightly irritable!"

Dawn rolled her eyes and stepped off the branch, causing Mira's heart to suddenly jump into her throat. Instead of plummeting toward the ground, however, Dawn seemed to almost gracefully glide down, her bare feet gently touching the grass. She marched up to Mira, reaching up and jabbing her in the stomach with her finger, a stern expression on her young face. "My goodness, aren't we sour! Complain, complain, complain! You should try dealing with what _I_ have to deal with every day!"

Mira raised an eyebrow at this. "And what _do_ you have to deal with every day?"

Dawn paused at this for a moment, before flashing Mira a broad grin, shrugging. "Oh, just some stuff. But we're not here to talk about me, missy. We're here to talk about you!"

"Fine." Mira crossed her arms. "Then talk about me. What the hell is going on?"

Dawn looked up at her, her smile fading, being slowly replaced by a look of sadness. "You've got a choice to make, Mira. Here and now. Whether you want to go back… or whether you want to let go and come with me."

Mira suddenly felt uneasy. "Come with you?"

Dawn nodded. "Into the great beyond."

Mira swallowed. "I thought you said I wasn't dead."

Dawn shrugged. "You're not. Not yet. But you're close. And your survival depends entirely on your choice."

"I… get to choose?"

Dawn nodded again. "Yup. I figured since you were so miserable with your life I'd give you the choice whether you really wanted to go back to it or not."

Mira's face darkened. "What're you talking about miserable? I'm not miserable!"

Now it was Dawn's turn to cross her arms. "Let me explain something to you, 'kay? That creature that almost killed you tonight? It's called a Shadowkind. It feeds on life energy by forming a psychic bond with someone experiencing intense negative emotions. Like the raw fear only a child can generate. Or the misery of the truly destitute. And even then, it usually takes weeks for the bond to fully form." Dawn looked Mira straight in the eye now. "That creature had been working on your sister for weeks, ignoring you entirely. Then, tonight, it turns its attentions to you and in literally moments has formed a bond strong enough to nearly kill you! Mira… why are you so miserable?"

It was a sincere question. Mira could tell by the true look of concern on Dawn's face. Mira wasn't sure why, but it really hurt her to see this little girl so sad. But what bothered her even more was what the little girl had said.

And how right she was. Mira was miserable. She didn't know why, and she wasn't sure how long it had been going on. But she was.

"You're afraid of the future, aren't you?" Dawn said.

Mira looked up at her. "I'm terrified of my future! I'm terrified of making the wrong choices. Of setting myself up for a miserable future that I can't get out of. There's so much pressure on me to figure everything out and have a plan. I don't have a plan! I don't know what to do with my life! I've… I've never known."

Dawn looked at her for a long moment before speaking again. "Well… you don't have to worry about it any longer if you don't want to. I can take you away from all of it."

Mira looked back at her, before looking down at the ground. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder, back toward the horizon. The roiling, black clouds on the horizon were closer now. Mira could see flashes of lightning. "Something… bad is coming isn't it?"

Dawn nodded. "You have no idea."

Mira looked at the storm for a moment longer before turning back to Dawn. "I want to go back."

Dawn raised her eyebrows. "You do?"

"Yes." Mira nodded. "You're right. I'm scared to death of my future, and it's made me miserable to the point that I made it easy for that monster to try to kill me. But this isn't the answer. I can't just let it all go. I can't just leave my sister behind. She might need me. She might need me right now."

Dawn nodded. "She does need you, Mira. More than you know. And with what's coming she's going to need you more than ever. You're going to need each other."

Mira glanced back at the storm. "What _is_ coming?" She turned back to Dawn… and was shocked to see that she was suddenly back, sitting in the tree.

"You're going to find out sooner rather than later," Dawn said, her legs swinging back and forth as they dangled below the branch. "It's going to be important that you help your sister. That she helps you. That you trust each other." She smiled. "And that you trust _him_."

"Trust who?"

Dawn's grin broadened. "You know who."

Mira crossed her arms. "That man, you mean… the one claiming to be the Doctor?"

Dawn nodded. "He's not just claiming, Mira. It is him. But you don't have to take my word for it. You're going to have proof positive very soon. You'll see the light."

Without warning, a golden light suddenly erupted all around Mira. It blinded her, blocking Dawn from sight. Just before the entire world was enveloped in the dazzling gold, Mira heard Dawn speak one more time.

"The Brightest Light."

And then she saw.

She saw everything.

She saw faces. People.

She saw an old man, with long white hair that curled at the ends, dressed in a black, old fashioned three piece suit. He had a stern and impatient look on his face, though his eyes belied an ancient and benevolent soul. She heard his voice.

"Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the Fourth Dimension?"

She saw another man, this one clownish, with a goofy grin, and a messy mop of black hair. He too wore an old fashioned suit, this one with a bowtie, though in contrast to the first man, his clothes were comically oversized.

"There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things which act against everything we believe in. They must be fought."

Another. This one a tall, imposing man, dressed elegantly in a long, red velvet coat, and black cloak. A bushy main of curly white hair.

"Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway."

Yet another. This one with a long coat, and a wide brimmed hat stuffed down over a mass of dark, curly hair. His eyes were wide and nearly manic. An absurdly long, multi-colored scarf was wrapped around his neck and draped several times over his shoulders.

"Homo sapiens. What an inventive, invincible species."

Another still. This one younger, dressed in a cream colored jacket with red trim, and what looked like celery pinned to the lapel. He had a boyish, if somewhat nervous grin, and blonde hair.

"For some people, small, beautiful events are what life is all about!"

Another. This one taller, and broader. He wore an arrogant smirk on his face. He too had bushy, blonde curly hair. His clothes were absurd, his jacket a mad patchwork of clashing colors.

"You were expecting someone else?"

And then she saw him… the funny little Doctor she'd met as a girl. With his longish brown hair and his panama hat. He leaned on his question mark cane, and smiled with a twinkle - a somewhat dark and mysterious twinkle - in his eye.

"I am far more than just another Time Lord…"

Then suddenly he became the new man, the crazy, Jane Austen fellow she'd met tonight, with the wavy, long brown hair and the piercing blue eyes.

"I know who I am! I am the Doctor!"

And Mira knew at once it was true. She didn't know how, but she knew for a fact. He was the Doctor. All eight of the faces she'd seen were the Doctor! They were all one in the same. Eight faces, one man. He really _had _changed his appearance! It was an ability of his people! The Time Lords! Aliens from another planet! She didn't know why or how she suddenly knew all this, suddenly believed it… but she did know that she _did_ believe it. Beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The Doctor had returned for her. Just like he'd promised.

And Mira opened her eyes.

Kylie was kneeling over her, relief flooding her concerned eyes.

"You're awake! It worked!"

Mira groaned and sat up. She was back in the hospital. And she felt so tired. "What happened? What worked?" She looked down and saw that she held the Doctor's question mark umbrella in her hand. "Why do I have this?"

"It worked!" Kylie said again, hopping to her feet. "The Doctor gave me that! He told me to give it to you, he said it might help! And so I did, and there was this big burst of light, like with the key earlier, and it worked and now you're okay!"

Mira looked up at her. Big burst of light?

_…The Brightest Light…_

Mira shook her head and pulled herself to her feet, when she was suddenly struck with a dizzy spell. She wobbled and nearly fell, leaning against the nearby wall for support. She was still weak. "Where is he?"

Kylie's face suddenly creased with worry. "He ran off down the hall." She pointed. "The Shadow Monster was chasing him. They ran around the corner, and he hasn't come back." Her face then brightened slightly. "Mira, you're never gonna guess what! The Doctor! He's-"

"-an alien from another planet." Mira interrupted, almost reflexively. "He brought you here in his time machine."

Kylie's jaw dropped. "How did you know all that?"

"I'm… not sure." Mira looked down at the umbrella she still held. "I think… I think this told me?"

Kylie raised an eyebrow. "The umbrella told you?" The she gasped, her eyes growing wide. "Oh my gosh, that's it isn't it! That's the magic umbrella!"

Mira didn't take her eyes off of it. "Yeah… I guess it is."

* * *

As the Doctor ran, his long, green velvet jacket billowing behind him as he went, he considered whether or not this was one of his more foolish plans. Upon hearing the snarl of the Shadowkind hot on his heels, a snarl which revealed just how uncomfortably close it was behind him, he further decided that perhaps now wasn't the time to consider such things. He pushed himself harder, his shoes clacking loudly on the sawdust laden linoleum. At the end of the hall, mere yards away, stood the TARDIS. Even in the near complete lack of light, it was perfectly visible, its blue frame seeming almost to glow.

"You think you can deceive me, but I know what that box is, Time Lord!" The Doctor didn't look back as it spoke. He didn't need to. He could almost feel the Shadowkind's breath on the back of his throat. "I can feel the time energy radiating from it. You think your precious travelling machine shall save you from me. But-"

The Doctor reached the TARDIS, threw himself through the door, and spun, slamming it in the Shadowkind's face, with only millimeters to spare. He leaned up against the doors a breathed a deep sigh...

…which was when he noticed the shadow growing from seam beneath the doors. Quickly he scurried away, leaping up to raised dais in the center of the room before turning back… just in time to see the shadow suddenly grow and reshape itself into the Shadowkind's physical form.

"Your TARDIS cannot keep out the shadows, Time Lord!" the creature rasped as it glided toward the Doctor.

"Actually, it can." The Doctor quickly stepped around the dais, putting the console between himself and the creature, casually flipping a switch as he went. "You simply didn't give me time to active the defenses. Unfortunately it would seem that it's too late now."

The creature chortled. It glided up onto the control platform. "Indeed it is. So tell me, Time Lord… what is your name?"

The Doctor looked surprised. "My name?"

"Yes." The Shadowkind darted toward the Doctor, who in turn darted around the console yet again, not leaving the dais. He spun a valve on the control panel as he went. "I prefer to know the names of the Time Lords I've killed."

The Doctor nodded. "I see. Killed many have you?"

"Oh yes." The creature moved forward, and the Doctor avoided it once more, pressing a button as he went. "In eons past. In the Dark Times. During the War with the Great Vampires, I slew many of your arrogant, self-righteous race."

"Ah, yes. That whole thing." The Doctor nodded. "Well, in that case, I'm called the Doctor."

"The Doctor?" The Shadowkind paused an chuckled. "An unusually simple name for one of your kind. Time Lord names are typically so long and tiresomely complex."

The Doctor nodded. "An apt description for the race in general." The Doctor pulled a lever and the Time Rotor began bobbing up and down. From beyond the walls of the control room, the sound of the TARDIS's engines could be heard. The Shadowkind's grin never faltered.

"It matters little where your travelling machine takes us, Doctor. You won't be leaving here alive."

"As you've made quite clear." The Doctor nodded again. "So tell me… I've given you my name. The least you could do is give me the courtesy of telling me yours?"

The creature shook its head, its teeth gleaming brightly in the darkened folds of its hood. It drew no closer to the Doctor now, but instead stood utterly still from the other side of the console, like a snake preparing to strike. Through the cylindrical glass of the Time Rotor, its grin was distorted to freakish absurdity. "I have no name. My kind have very little use for such mundanities."

"Ah, of course." The Doctor's eyes dropped to the console. His sonic screw driver, now blackened and slightly warped, was still plugged into the controls, directly in front of him. He returned his gaze to the Shadowkind. It still came no closer. "Speaking of your kind… there aren't many of you left, are there?"

The creature's grin transformed into a sneer now. It snarled. "No. There are not. The Time Lord's saw to that."

"Yes, pity about that." There was a certain sincerity in the Doctor's voice. "So where is it you've been hiding all this time? Certainly not on Earth."

The creature glowered at him. "I was one of the few that fled this reality at the climax of the Great War, to the outer darkness, to escape the purging your people brought down upon the Universe. I floated in the non-space outside of time, unable to take form, yet unable to die, when I gladly would have welcomed death." Its eyes almost seemed to burn a brighter red. "But something happened. I heard them."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Them?"

The creature's smile returned. "Yes. The whispers. The chittering of those who dwell on the Outside. The promises they made. They weakened the walls between worlds. Caused the tiniest of strains, but it was enough. They sent me back. And I wound up on Earth."

The Doctor shook his head, his brow furrowing. "I'm… not sure I understand-"

"Enough of this!" The creature suddenly lunged at him. Snatching his sonic screwdriver out of the console, the Doctor dove off the dais, tucking and rolling as he hit the carpeted floor before springing back to his feet.

The creature glared at him as it stalked off the dais after him, slowly moving toward him now, crouched as if to pounce. "I grow weary of speaking. I did not come her to converse with you Time Lord."

The Doctor nodded, backing away slowly. "Nor I you. However, since you've given me the courtesy of a decent chat, I feel I should return the favor and give you a courtesy of my own. The same courtesy I give all my enemies before they make a foolish mistake that I am forced to correct, in fact." The Doctor stopped backing away now, his eyes narrowing. His mouth hardened to a grim straight line. "One chance."

The creature's toothy smile returned. It began hissing rhythmically now; its version of laughter. "One chance? How amusing. Whatever do you mean by that?"

The Doctor's gaze darkened. "One chance to walk away from this unscathed. I can take you anywhere you want to go. Anywhere that's not Earth. Anywhere dark, and bleak, and hostile, that would certainly be more to your liking than some M Class terran rock. The Endless Forest of Veriss. The Seven Screaming Moons of Nocturia. The Void of Tartarus III. As long as you agree to leave Earth and those girls alone. Think on this now. It's the only chance I'm going to give you."

The creature's amused hissing transformed into a howling now. "Doctor… what I intend to do is to slay you. As slowly, as brutally, and as paintfully as I possibly can! Then I will return your travelling machine to Earth, and I will devour those girls, the Mira and the Kylie, until there is nothing left. And then I will find more! Now die, Time Lord! DIE!"

And with that the creature screamed and lunged at the Doctor, its fangs bared, its claws drawn up to strike.

The Doctor held his ground. "Suit yourself." He raised the sonic screwdriver, pointed it at the TARDIS console, and activated it, sparks exploding from its tip. A switch on the console threw itself.

At once, with a grinding sound like stone on stone, a seam appeared down the center of the control room's massive, domed ceiling. It then began to widen, like a great opening eye.

And the searing light from the white dwarf star of which the Doctor had placed the TARDIS in orbit, began flooding the control room.

Instantly, the cloister bell began ringing. A klaxon sounded in the control room itself. The books on the shelf began to smolder, some flying off, papers being kicked up by the sudden solar winds blowing through the room. Sparks flew from the console in the room's center. They were close enough to the star that they could hear the crackle and roar of the flares on its surface, of the great combustion that went on beneath. The heat was incredible and instantly unbearable.

The Shadowkind shrieked in agony of the light, it's black cloak billowing violently in the winds. "I'll kill you for this, Doctor! I'll kill you! I'll rend your flesh! I'll bathe in your blood! I'll devour your hearts! I'll-"

"Catch." The Doctor said. He flicked a button on the overloading sonic screwdriver, setting it to its highest frequency before tossing it to the Shadowkind. Instinctively, the creature caught it.

And it exploded, like a grenade, in its face.

The creature was slammed against a nearby wall, as the device the Time Lord had thrown at it detonated. It could feel the searing pain in its now ruined face and the entire front half of its torso. It was completely blinded and most of its teeth were gone. The effects of the sunlight combined with whatever weapon it was the Doctor had just used on it had mortally wounded it. Instinctively it dematerialized to its shadow form to heal.

And realized its mistake.

"That star is one of the brighter suns in this quadrant of the universe." It heard the Doctor say. "I'm afraid there's not much chance of a shadow being able to maintain itself in this kind of light."

It realized he was right. It could feel itself beginning to evaporate, to bubble away on the floor it was cast upon. It had only one chance.

If it could escape to the void of space! Quickly it glided across the floor, toward the doors leading out. It felt so weak! There was quickly becoming so little of it left!

"Curse you, Doctor!" It shrieked as it went. "You will die for this! All of your kind will! A darkness will fall upon the universe! The Outside is closing in! And everything shall die!"

And then the cold and silent void of space enveloped it.

And there was no more sound.

As soon as he saw what little was left of the Shadowkind disappear under the door, the Doctor dashed to the TARDIS console, throwing the observation port switch back into the closed position. The domed ceiling grinded back into place, and the Doctor reached beneath the console and hit the Fast Return Switch. Instantly, the Time Rotor (its case now cracked from the intense heat) began bobbing up and down, and the groaning of the engines filled the air.

The Doctor glanced around. The control room was in complete disarray. The floors, both the carpeted and hardwood sections were charred black. The bookshelves were on fire now, the candelabras (those still standing anyway) were melted and bowed. Burning and smoldering books and pages littered the floor. The easy chair by the fire place was burning as well, the table next to it covered in the goop that had been jelly babies before they melted, boiled, and shattered the glass bowl they'd been contained in. There was smoke coming from the console itself and the cloister bell hadn't stopped ringing. The Doctor supposed he'd proven lucky that exposing the interior of the TARDIS to the star hadn't disrupted the life support or gravity functions. Or he'd be floating out in deep space with the Shadowkind right now.

The Doctor sighed and leaned back against the console, taking it all in. He shook his head. "Goodness. Who'd have thought a few moments exposure to the surface of a white dwarf star could cause so much damage?"

* * *

"I think it was here…" Kylie spun around in the darkened hallway. She'd lead Mira to a dead end in under construction wing of the hospital they were in. A large heavy tarp covered the walls to their right and left. "I'm just not sure. All these corridors look the same."

Mira glanced around as well, still clutching the Doctor's umbrella. Something seemed very familiar about this particular spot. "I guess he left…"

Kylie glanced up at her. "Would he do that? Would he just leave us?" Her eyes widened. "You don't think he left the monster here too, do you?"

Mira shook her head at once. "No. It's gone."

Kylie tilted her head. "How do you know."

Mira paused a moment, contemplating, before finally shaking her head. "I'm… not sure. I just feel it. I feel like a weight's been lifted. Like my head's clearer and the air's less oppressive. Don't you feel it?"

Kylie thought for a minute, before nodding her head as well. "Yeah, I do."

Mira grinned slightly. There was a good chance Kylie didn't feel anything at all, she was just being agreeable. Kylie, meanwhile, began glancing around again. "Why do you think the monster brought you here? Where I was born?"

That was it! That was why this hallway was so familiar. This was the hallway she'd been standing when she'd first met the Doctor! The night her sister was born.

"_We will go to where all this began. So tell me, darling Mira… where did all your pain begin?_"

That was why it had brought her here. She looked down at her sister, who was till looking up at her inquisitively, and felt a lump grow in her throat. Slowly, Mira knelt down in front of Kylie, and placed a hand her shoulder.

"I think, Kylie, it brought me here because I… very unfairly… blamed you for a lot of my unhappiness."

Kylie looked at her for a moment, before slowly looking at the ground. "Oh."

"Hey," Mira reached down and placed a finger under Kylie's chin, gently drawing her gaze back up. "I said it was unfair. And it was. I had… and don't have, and never _have_ had, any reason to blame you for anything alright. If anything, you're the only reason I'm still here. The reason I survived tonight."

Kylie raised an eyebrow. "I am?"

Mira nodded. "I almost slipped away tonight, Kylie. But I held on. I stayed. Because I knew I couldn't leave you alone."

Kylie reached up and wiped the tears that were forming out of her eyes. Her voice shook as she spoke. "Oh. Wow. Honestly, Mira… I never thought you liked me much."

Now Mira could feel the tears welling in her own eyes. "Oh, Kylie. That's not true! I know I haven't been very easy to deal with lately, I've been dealing with so many of my own, stupid, selfish issues, and I know I've been taking pretty much all of it out on you. But it's not your fault, and it never has been, and I am so sorry. I don't not like you, not at all. You're my sister. And I love you."

Kylie threw herself against Mira and hugged her. "I love you too, Mira!"

All at once, the strange churning and groaning Mira had heard earlier when she was in the clutches of the Shadow Monster filled the air again. Mira and Kylie stood and looked up just in time to see the TARDIS slowly materialize in front of them, the lantern on the top filling the room with a pulsing, blue light. It fully appeared with a loud thump. A moment later, the doors open and, following a large puff of smoke, the Doctor quickly stepped out, pulling the door shut behind him. A small fire was burning at the end of his coat, and he quickly patted it out with his hand before turning to the two of them, grinning.

"Well, that was bracing!" his eyes moved down to the umbrella Mira hold.

Kylie ran up to him. "Is it gone?"

The Doctor paused. "Is what gone?"

"The… monster?"

"Oh yes, him. Yes, he's gone. He's floating in space right now, around a star somewhere near the Isis system. About seven thousand years from now, give or take a century." He brushed past Kylie, regarding Mira now with a smile. "Aha! I see your sister gave you the umbrella then! I guess that means my theory was correct!"

Kylie nodded. "Yup!" She paused. "What theory?"

The Doctor smiled, turning back to her and looking rather proud of himself now. "Ten years ago, I gave your sister an object of mine, a key, to my TARDIS here. Now, that key, being that it was originally actually a _part_ of the TARDIS, was swimming in Artron energy."

Kylie squinted at him. "Artra-wha…?"

The Doctor knelt in front of her, his grin widening. "Artron energy. It's an energy absorbed by things that have travelled through the Time Vortex. The key I gave Mira was covered in it. I'm covered in it. And that umbrella of mine is covered in it. I had banked on the fact that your sister carried that key around quite a bit…" He glanced over at Mira now. "And you really must have!"

Mira nodded. "A long time. Every day of my life from the time you gave it to me until I was about fifteen."

The Doctor nodded, before looking back at Kylie. "By carrying that key with her for an extended period of time, she absorbed a large level of Artron energy as well, a kind specific to me and my TARDIS. Due to lack of contact with the Time Vortex, it went dormant. However, upon touching that umbrella, which had very recently been in the Vortex, and is covered in very active Artron particles, I figured it would not only zap her with enough energy to revive her, it might put a few images in her mind that would convince her I am who I say I am, since I laced the particles with a bit of a psychic message. A little trick of my people."

Mira raised her eyebrows. "You can put psychic messages in umbrellas?"

The Doctor nodded. "Or other things. Provided they're full of Artron energy, or something similar. There are other ways to transfer psychic messages of course, very quickly if I want to but they're… less pleasant." the Doctor rubbed his forehead, squinting as though recalling a painful memory. He looked back to Kylie. "Understand?"

Kylie stared at him, wide eyed. "Not even kinda. But you sure do like explaining things, don't you?"

The Doctor stood, looking a bit sheepish, though still smiling. "Is it that obvious?"

"Wow." Mira shook her head, before her eyes suddenly widened again. "Hey, what was with the little girl?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. "Little girl?"

Mira nodded. "Yeah. The little girl in white I saw while I was unconscious. Who gave me the choice to move on or stay here on Earth. Was that part of your psychic message?"

The Doctor looked very confused. "I'm… afraid not."

"Oh. Then… what was it?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Who knows? It could've just been the result of synapses in your brain misfiring. Sort of like people seeing lights and hearing voices when they have near-death experiences. Or your subconscious helping you fight to stay alive by giving you a visual. The human brain is a very complex contraption."

"Yeah." Mira shrugged. "I guess you're right."

But there was still something about it that didn't sit well with her. Something the little girl had said. About something bad coming.

_"….sooner rather than later…"_

"Anywho!" The Doctor suddenly clapped his hands together, breaking Mira's train of thought. "How about that adventure, eh?"

"Huh?" said Mira.

"Adventure!" the Doctor repeated. "I promised you adventure ten years ago, didn't I? Would you like one? Or two… or however many we run into?"

Mira could feel her heart beginning to beat faster. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," said the Doctor, leaning up against the TARDIS. "Come with me." He glanced over at Kylie and winked. "Both of you."

"Where to?" Kylie asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "Anywhere. Anywhere at all. All of time and space. We can go wherever and whenever you want, and then when you want to go home I can drop you off five minutes from now. It'll be like you never left."

"Anywhere?" Kylie asked breathlessly.

The Doctor nodded, grinning. "Anywhere."

Kylie beamed, her eyes as wide as saucers. "Even Disneyland?"

"Yes, even…" the Doctor sighed, his eyes narrowing. "…Disneyland." He glanced over at Mira. "What is it with you two? I tell you all of time and space, and Disneyland is what you come up with?"

Mira shrugged. "We like Disneyland."

The Doctor shook his head. "Clearly. So… what do you say?"

Mira looked over at Kylie, who was staring up at her with hope in her eyes, before looking back over at the Doctor. All summer she'd been terrified about the approach of fall. About going off to college and beginning a new phase of her life she was wholly uncomfortable with. About not having enough time to prepare herself.

But now it seemed fate, or destiny… or perhaps a little girl in a white dress… was offering her as much time as she wanted.

"These adventures…"she said slowly. "Are they always gonna be like tonight?"

"You mean with the running and the terror and the nearly dying?" The Doctor asked.

Mira paused before speaking again. "Yeah. That."

"Well… yes. But there'll be slow days too." The Doctor looked thoughtful for a moment. "Tuesdays are generally slow days. I don't know why that is."

Mira looked away for a long moment. Then slowly a smile formed on her face. She looked up at the Doctor and nodded. "Absolutely." She looked down at Kylie. "Let's do it."

"Yay!" Kylie jumped up and down excitedly before running over and throwing her arms around her sister. Mira hugged her back with a grin as the Doctor turned and entered the TARDIS, leaving the doors open for them to follow. Kylie grabbed Mira by the hand and began pulling her toward the entrance.

"Mira, wait 'til you see this! The TARDIS is-"

"Bigger on the inside?" Mira smiled smugly down at her sister.

"Awww…" Kylie looked disappointed, glancing down at the umbrella her sister still held. "Stupid umbrella, ruining all the suprises."

"I very much doubt that." The Doctor's voice trailed from beyond the TARDIS's open doors. "Now come along, you two. No time to lose. Er, well… I suppose there's plenty of time to lose. But still. Don't dawdle! And close the doors behind you, would you?"

Exchanging one last smile with each other, Mira and Kylie Valor crossed the threshold.

Mira knew what to expect with the massive control room, as she and her sister stepped inside, Kylie stopping to pull the doors shut behind them. What she _hadn't _expected was the fiery, smoke-filled state of things. Or the bell that was constantly ringing. "What the hell happened in her?"

"Oh, just this thing." The Doctor darted up to dais and went to work, his hands dancing across the controls. "Let me tell you, never open the observation port of your craft when you're withing ten thousand kilometers of a white dwarf star."

Mira nodded uncertainly. "That's good advice."

"Of course it is." The Doctor threw one last switch and the console. "And we're off!"

With a shudder that shook the entire room, the Time Rotor began bobbing up and down in its cracked case and the noise of the TARDIS's engines rose up from beyond the walls. The bell continued to ring. Kylie moved up onto the dais to stand next to the Doctor.

"So… why is that ringing happening?" Mira asked.

"Oh, that? That's the cloister bell. It rings when the TARDIS is in danger."

Kylie's eyes widened. "Are we in danger?"

"Ah," the Doctor waved a hand dismissively. "I wouldn't worry about it. It's fine. She's fine. Tough old girl. She'll heal herself." He paused then added. "Probably."

Kylie nodded slowly, unsure as usual what the Doctor meant. Her eyes wandered up to a screen that was positioned above the control panel. It looked like an old TV set from the fifties. It was a bit static-y, and the screen kept flipping, but there seemed to be some text in bold white letters on a red background reading "URGENT EMERGENCY, LEVEL ALPHA: ALL UNNACOUNTED FOR TARDISES ARE TO RETURN TO GALLIFREY IMMEDIATELY, BY ORDER OF LADY PRESIDENT ROMANADVORATRELUNDAR." Kylie pointed up at it. "Doctor? What's this mean?"

"Hm?" the Doctor followed her gaze to the TV screen, his eyes widening slightly. "Oh, that." He reached up and switched the screen off. "That's nothing. You can ignore that."

"Are you sure?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I have been for months now."

Mira stepped up onto the dais now. "So, where are we going?"

The Doctor smiled knowingly at her. "Someplace you and your sister are going to enjoy very much, I think."

Mira furrowed her brow. "And that would be where?"

The Doctor just continued smiling. "You'll see."

His grinning was infectious, and Mira couldn't help but return it. Seeing him dance so enthusiastically around the control panel, laughing the whole time, was a wonderful sight. Mira didn't think she could put into words just how wonderful. There was something infinitely childlike and innocent, but at the same time, infinitely sage and wise about him. As she looked at him, she caught the Doctor's eye. He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

Mira shook her head still smiling. "It really is you. You really came back for me."

The Doctor nodded. "It really is. And I really did."

As if on cue, there was a loud thump, and the noise of the engine ceased. The Doctor grinned, moving over toward the doors. "We're here!"

"We're _where_?" Mira followed him, Kylie trailing behind.

They reached the doors and the Doctor threw them open.

And Mira and Kylie were both shocked into speechlessness.

The first thing Mira noticed was that they were hanging in space, above a massive planet. The planet looked similar to earth, except the continents were all wrong. Beyond the curve of the planet, more stars than Mira had ever seen stretched off into infinity.

They weren't alone either, Mira realized. There were spaceships, hundreds, maybe thousands of them, all around them, of all shapes and sizes. Some looked like sleeker versions of space shuttles from Earth, some even looked like X-Wings from Star Wars or starships from Star Trek. Some looked nothing like anything Mira had ever seen before. And they all seemed to be in line, either coming from or going to another object, hanging in space between them and the planet below. Whatever it was, it was massive, not as big as the planet, but immense nonetheless. It looked almost like a steel moon It was perfectly spherical, with two somewhat smaller spheres attached at the top. Squinting, Mira thought she could see hundreds, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of windows glittering on its surface. It was definitely the source of the two very long lines of spaceships. It looked sort of like…

Mira's eyes widened. "Doctor, is that?"

The Doctor beamed at her. "That, my dear Mira, is a space station. The most popular destination for all intergalactic vacationers in the 33rd century in fact."

A wide grin slowly spread across Kylie's face. "That looks like…"

"It is!" The Doctor gestured out the door. "Mira, Kylie, you wanted Disneyland? I give you Space Station Disney! The Happiest Place in the Galaxy!"

* * *

**AN: **_The end for now! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! The Eighth Doctor, Mira, and Kylie will return in "The Happiest Place in the Galaxy!" Stay tuned for a short epilogue to this story and a short preview of the next to follow!_


	6. Epilogue: The Game

**Epilogue: The Game**

The stars glittered innumerable in the sky above, reflecting sharply on the smooth surface of the ocean. The water was eerily calm, only just barely lapping at the sand of the beach, not even enough to cause a foam. The full moon shown down brightly, illuminating the bone white sand, causing it to nearly glow.

Old Jove was seated up the beach a ways, a several yards from the surf, on a log. He leaned forward expectantly, his gnarled and ancient hands resting on the head of an old, simple, curved cane. A small, but brightly burning fire was on the ground near his feet. Beside him, on another log, was an old wooden chess set. The pieces set up for the beginning of a game, the white on Jove's side, the dark on the other. On the other side of the chess set, directly across from Jove, was yet another log, this one empty.

Jove sighed. The fire reflected brightly in the deeply tinted shades he wore, casting dancing shadows on the dark, crinkled skin of his face. He had a trim white beard and was dressed very casually in a straw hat, khaki shorts, and a white, short-sleeved button down shirt. He leaned back on the log now, grimacing slightly at the twinge in his back as he did so. The cool breeze on the air felt good on his face. The night sky must've been beautiful tonight. He could only imagine.

After all, he'd been blind ever since he was a small boy, which was not an inconsiderable time ago.

Ever since the visions had started.

They happened in dreams. Sometimes vague, sometimes crystal clear. But always in dreams. They were the only sight he had left.

They happened generally before big world events. They started the night before Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated.

They happened again the night before Germany invaded Poland in 1935.

And again just a few short nights before the Blitz had begun in England.

Again the night before John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The night before September 11th, 2001.

The dreams always showed him what would happen. Glimpses of the future.

Sometimes there was a voice. The voice of a sad little girl. She'd calmly explain that he was seeing events that had yet to come to pass. It was unfortunate, but as he was born a Time Sensitive being, one of the few in the galaxy, and the absolute only one on Earth, he was privy to such information, even if there was little he could do about it. The little girl was commonly apologetic, and at first Jove had been terribly offended. But as he'd aged, he hadn't minded. It was true, the more memorable events he'd witnessed were terrible. But there were the good ones too.

President Roosevelt's Fear Itself speech. VE-Day. Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech. The election of Nelson Mandella as the first black president of South Africa.

Then there were the intimate moments. The birth of children Jove didn't quite understand why he was seeing, but was later informed that these children would one day be very important to the grand scheme of things. That was never elaborated upon though.

It was because of these visions that he found himself here tonight. He lived in a small cabin, on a cliff side about a quarter of a mile from the beach. He'd been told in a dream the night before to come down to this beach to bring the chess set he'd been given by his son. A chess set he and his son had played against each other many times on this very beach, in these very seats, many many years ago. Before his son had died at the ripe old age of 87.

He was to meet a woman down here.

A very dark woman, with very dark intentions. He'd been given a vision of her.

She was stunningly beautiful and thin, though her skin was a deathly white, her eyes and hair black as coal. Her lips were a full ruby red, and she wore a long flowing black gown.

And everywhere she went a presence followed. It was not quite visible, just beyond the perception of the five senses, but Jove was told he'd feel the presence very powerfully, almost swirling around the dark woman like a cloud of smoke.

It was the presence, he was informed, of Those from the Outside.

"So you're who Dawn chose as her emissary to greet me?" The sultry, scoffing voice cut suddenly through the night air, startling Jove. He sat up abruptly. "An ancient and withered blind man. How amusing."

And Jove _could_ feel it. The darkness swelling off of this woman. It was unimaginable. It was almost overwhelming. It made the air more oppressive, and even though he was blind, Jove felt as though the beach had suddenly grown darker. He heard her feet crunching in the sand as she came toward him, heard the folds of her dress swishing against her skin as she took a seat on the log opposite the chess board to Jove.

In spite of it, though, Jove offered her a friendly smile. "Evenin', Miss!" he said, his jovial tone made somehow moreso by his thick Jamaican accent. "It's good ta be seein' ya. In a manner of speakin' o' course."

He could tell by her tone, the woman was smiling as she spoke. "Of course. Though I very much doubt you actually mean that. I suppose introductions are in order. You may call me Eris."

Jove raised his eyebrows beneath his sunglasses. "A fittin' name for a servant of Discord as ya be. I go by Jove, myself."

"Jove, hm? How apropos." Jove heard the fabric of her dress shift again as she crossed her legs. "So tell me, Jove… did Dawn even bother educating you as to what your roll in the Game is to be."

Jove shook his head. "'Fraid not miss. 'Fraid I'm unsure as to who ya actually be talkin' about in fact. I've never been acquainted with anyone by de name of Dawn. I simply go where de Brightest Light bade me."

"You mean all this time she's been saddling you with these visions, Dawn never even bothered to introduce herself?" Eris tisked. "Shame on her. And shame on you, for mindless obedience. You Disciples of the Light are all the same."

Jove grinned at her still. "Ya think to be insultin' me by deridin' my faith. Ya be wrong. I am proud of my faith."

"I'm certain you are." There was amusement in Eris's tone, but it was joyless. A moment of silence went by in which the only sound to be heard was the crackle of the fire. Then Jove spoke again.

"So tell me, miss. If my faith be so blind, pardon de pun, what makes yours so inspired?"

Jove could tell by her tone that Eris's smile had broadened. "I know what reward awaits me. What Those Who Dwell In Shadow will bestow upon me after my part is played."

Jove raised an eyebrow. "And it takes no amount of mindless faith to be believin' these masters of yours actually intend to give you what dey promise?"

Eris chuckled at that. It was a cold, tinkering sound, as if someone had gone and made a wind chime out of icicles. It sent a shiver down Jove's spine though he did his best to hide it.

"You know so little," Eris said.

"Dat may be," Jove replied. "But at least I don't presume ta know more den I actually do." With that he leaned forward, and moved one of the pawns on his side of the chess board two spaces up. "Your move, miss."

"I must say, I'm surprised." Eris did little to hide her condescending amusement. "Making the first move like that. Especially with the disadvantage one in your situation has at a visual game like chess."

Jove nodded. "I think you'll be findin' I can hold my own, miss."

Another shift of fabric, higher up. Eris had shrugged. "Good for you. The Game would appear to be afoot then." A pause, and then a slight tapping sound as Eris moved one of her pawns two spaces forward. "I think I shall enjoy this."

Jove shrugged. "I think ya may be surprised."

Eris didn't respond to that and a long moment of silence went by until Jove almost actually believed that she had gone. Then, without warning, she suddenly spoke again. Only this time she was much closer. She must've been crouched down next to Jove at this point, her sharp whisper like a knife in his ear, her hot breath on his skin seeming to burn.

"The time of this world and all others is nearly at its end, old man. The groundwork has been laid and the pieces are coming into play. The Foundation of this and all other realities will be pulled apart brick by brick and the universe itself will come crashing down. All things as you know them will end. And they will be rebuilt in a new image." And here she drew closer. Jove could almost feel her lips brushing his ear as she spoke. "And then you and yours will suffer. And no amount of idiot child's faith will save you."

And silence fell anew and she was gone. A child wind blew and in the quiet, Jove realized the fire had gone out. He was in total darkness now. She had caught him off guard, and her last words had utterly unnerved him.

He sat alone in the dark for some time.

Eventually he went home, back to his cabin. And he slept.

And he dreamed.

Only in contrast to the previous night, he didn't dream of a dark woman and living shadows from the Outside places.

On this night he dreamed of a man. A man shimmering with light. The Brightest Light.

In the morning Jove would hardly remember what the man looked like. But in the dream, the image was vivid, of the man with the longish brown hair, the piercing blue eyes, and the green velvet coat. The dread he'd been filled with that night melted away, completely being replaced by the glowing warmth of hope.

And as he saw this, Jove thought he heard a little girl sing.


	7. Prelude: When You Wish Upon A Starship

**Prelude: When You Wish Upon A Starship…**

_The year 3411…_

Denny felt the floor of his room shake from where he lay on his bed, reading from his holo-reader. The Starcrusier must've finally been touching down. Which meant they were finally here.

At that moment, the small comm-screen on the nightstand beside the bed came on. It was Denny's mother. She smiled at her son.

"We've arrived, Denny. The docking agents just have to finalize the passcode your father just transmitted and then we can board the station."

The screen blinked out, and Denny, smiling, flicked off his holo-reader and leapt to his feet. "Alright!" He quickly ducked down, fumbling under his bed until he found his red converse. He pulled them onto his feet, tying them as fast as his eleven year old fingers would allow him. He stood back up, dashing over to his dresser and grabbing the red baseball cap that rested there, pulling it down over his tussled blonde hair, before moving toward the doorway. The door slid open automatically with a whoosh, and Denny bounded out into the brightly lit, sleek white hallway…

And promptly collided with his older sister, Kelly. The two fell to the ground in a heap.

"Dammit!" Kelly swore. She quickly climbed back to her feet, straightening her short, denim skirt out, and pulling the pink top that barely covered her midriff as it was back down. "Why don't you watch where you're going, you little spaz?" She ran her hand through her long, curly black hair and sighed. "I just finished doing my hair. Now I need to find a mirror. Again."

"Jeez, sorry." Denny wasn't sorry at all. His sister had gotten so mean lately. Ever since she'd gotten accepted into First Class Administration School back on Providence Station. At first Denny had been happy for her. First Class was the highest you could get. You had to have really high marks (and Denny's, according to Denny's friend Luke, a certain amount of influence in your family) to even be considered for First Class. Denny's Father was on the board of Gateway Corp., who were responsible for the construction of most of the Warp Gates in the sector, so Denny supposed that may have been true.

Second Class was obviously second best. It was where most people got sent. It was for those with modest marks. Denny suspected (and his sister commonly reminded him) that second class was where he was most likely destined for. That was okay. Working as an administrator or a business official wasn't for him. He'd much rather work on a Starship! That's where a lot of Second Classers went. They got to crew commercial starships, or work in offices under First Classer, or the like.

Then there was Third Class. That was where all the below average kids and the ones that stirred up too much trouble went. Third Classers were sent off to labor camps or mines or factories. Or worse. Like the military. Where they were made to fight in the Dalek Wars.

Denny didn't like to think about that. Daleks terrified him.

It was because of the Dalek Wars that they were here, he supposed. Providence Station, which orbited a star in the Alpha Centauri system, monitoring a Warp Gate there, was growing too close to the ever expanding front line of the Dalek Wars. The Space Security Agency and the Earth Intergalactic Guard had taken over the station and ordered all civilians to evacuate. Denny's father had taken them back to one of their estates on Earth, before deciding they needed a vacation. Something to take their mind off the troubles.

Off the fact that the human forces may or may not have been engaged in a losing war with the Daleks.

It had come down to two choices, Kelly's pick of Stardasia, an ocean planet with a single continent that was entirely beach where they'd spent a summer the previous year, or Denny's pick of Space Station Disney. He'd never been and always wanted to go, ever since Luke's family had gone and Luke told him all about the Thousand Mile Roller Coaster. In the end, his parents had decided on SSD, since they hadn't been there before. A decision that infuriated Kelly.

"Oh, please!" she said. "You always give the damn baby what he wants. And now we have to go to some stupid amusement park, with idiotic robots designed to look like thousand year old cartoon characters?"

She'd stomped off before anyone could reprimand her. Denny never forgot the look she gave him.

One of utter contempt. Brothers and sisters were supposed to love each other, even if they annoyed one another all the time. Denny got the impression his sister didn't love him.

She caught him looking at her now as she fussed with her hair. "What? What're you looking at?"

"Nothing." Denny grumbled, turning away and heading toward the foyer, where the exit hatch was located. He really wished his sister wasn't here. More than that, he sometimes wished he didn't _have_ a sister. He knew that was wrong, but at the moment he didn't care.

He wished Kelly would just go away.

* * *

Denny and his family stood in the terminal, waiting for the gate to open to officially admit them onto the space station. Denny couldn't wait. Luke had told him about the giant hologram of Mickey Mouse that stood at the center of the massive boarding chamber that guests who could afford the luxury level of the station first entered upon leaving their ships. How it greeted each of the guests at once, yet somehow seemed to speak only to each one individually, even using their names. Denny had asked his father about that a few days previous over breakfast.

"Oh, it's just a minor psychic circuitry," his father had replied. "Helps personalize the experience for each and every guest, so it seems like everything at the park is just for them. A chip in all the circuitry at the station, including in the talking holograms and robots, is capable of patching into the brainwaves of each person coming near them. Not completely, just skimming the surface to get a few base facts, so it's not too invasive. The person's name, favorite Disney character, that sort of thing. Then, it makes everyone believe that they're being personally addressed at once, when they're actually hearing a generic message."

Kelly, looked up from her cereal as he spoke, smiling wickedly at Denny. "Yeah. Courtney says the Haunted Mansion ride taps into your fears and makes you see the scariest thing you can think of. I know what _you're_ gonna see, Denny!" She suddenly raised her voice, screeching in a robotic tone. "EXTERMINATE!"

"Kelly!" Her father had given her a warning look. "That's enough!"

Denny looked up at his father, fear in his eyes. "You don't think they really do that, do you?"

His father looked back at him now, shaking his head. "No, Denny. It's just a silly ride with ghosts and that. They wouldn't put anything that has to do with Daleks on the station. Not right now. Not with things the way they are."

Denny shivered, remembering the tone his father's voice at took as he said that last bit. Just then, a cheerful, high pitched voice came over a speaker at the top of the terminal. It was Mickey Mouse's voice.

"Haha!" he chirped in his trademark laugh. "Thanks for your patience, Mr. and Mrs. Warton, Kelly, and especially you, young Denny! You may now board the station! Enjoy your stay!"

The heavy door at the end of the terminal wooshed open and the Warton's stepped out.

And Denny felt his breath catch in his throat.

The chamber on the other side of the door was immense. Without a doubt, it was the biggest single room Denny had ever been in. It was a pure, glowing white, and dome shaped. All around it were doors, with glowing signs above them, each one leading to a different level, and thus, a different area of the park. Denny saw signs for "The Magic Kingdom" "The Mythical Lands" "The Holo-Suites" "The Night Life" and various others. The see of people was also larger than Denny had ever seen, of all shapes and sizes. Not just humans either. A green skinned couple, with prickles covering every inch of their faces walked by. Denny saw a business man, barking orders over his ear piece march by, followed by his two Ood servants. Yet another group walked past, if you could call it walking, that lacked any humanoid features whatsoever, two large, jellyfish like creatures, followed by a smaller jelly fish creature, wearing a Mouse Ears cap.

And dominating the center of the room, just like Luke had said, was an enormous hologram of Mickey Mouse, dressed in his usual red shorts with the buttons. Denny caught his eye, and he glanced down at the boy, waving a giant gloved hand. "Well, hey there, Denny! Hope you enjoy your stay here, and your sister doesn't pester you too much! May all your wishes come true!"

Denny beamed at this.

As they crossed the threshold, a young woman in a blue jumpsuit suddenly stepped infront of them smiling. She held up a hypo injector.

"Good afternoon folks!" she said cheerily. "My name's Erica. In order to gain access to the rest of the park, I'm going to have to stamp your hand as it were. This injector contains biodata nanos that will insure your access to various parts of the park. May I?"

Mr. Warton looked a bit uneasy at this. "Injections? I wasn't told there'd be any-"

"New policy," Erica interrupted quickly. "Can't be too careful in wartime, you know?"

Mr. Warton shook his head. "Of course. The new excuse for getting away with whatever you want. Whatever." He began rolling up his sleeve. "I paid an arm and a leg for this trip. Might as well get my money's worth, right?"

Mrs. Warton gave him a warning look. "Honey, don't start."

Erica took turns giving them all injections. Denny rubbed his arm and caught sight of the small mouse ear symbol that suddenly appeared on his hand. Erica noticed this and pointed to it. "There you are. Now when you want access to the rides all you have to do is run that symbol under the scanner at each ride entrance. Make sure you don't forget or you'll get quite a shock from the force field."

Mr. Warton raised an eyebrow. "Force field?"

Erica nodded. "New policy."

Mr. Warton shook his head. "Whatever. Let's just go in now." They walked away from Erica and into the crowd. "So, kids. Where do you want to go first?"

"Magic Kingdom!" Denny exclaimed.

"Night Life," said Kelly.

Denny looked at her, his eyes narrowing. "I can't get into Night Life. You have to be eighteen."

Kelly nodded. "Exactly." She looked up at their parents, grinning. "Let's go to Night Life."

Suddenly, a man stepped out in front of them, wearing the same style jumpsuit Erica had been wearing. He was holding a camera, which, before Mr. Warton could protest, he brought up to his face and snapped a picture of the family. The flash went off with a pop. It was the brightest flash Denny had ever seen, and for a moment he was completely blinded.

"Alright." Denny heard his father sigh, as he tried to blink the stars out of his eyes. "We're not paying for that." Denny's sight gradually came back, just in time to see the man pull the picture from the camera and offer it to Mr. Warton, who was clearly trying to blink the stars away as well.

"Don't worry, comes with admission." The man said in response to Mr. Warton's refusal to take the picture from him. "Catch a glimpse of mom, dad, and their boy as they come into the station for the first time."

"Wait a minute." Mrs. Warton took the picture from him and looked at it. Denny craned his neck to see it as well.

The picture showed he, his mother and his father looking a bit surprised. But other than that it was a nice picture of just the three of them. Mrs. Warton looked at it intently before sighing and handing it to her husband. "It's alright I guess. My hair's definitely looked better."

Mr. Warton looked at the picture and smiled. "It looks fine, dear. This is a great picture. The whole family. Me, my wife, and my favorite child."

Denny paused, before looking up at his dad. "I'm your only child, Dad."

Mr. Warton make a mock thoughtful face. "Oh yeah. Ah well. Still my favorite." He ruffled Denny's hair, grinning.

Denny grinned back. As the three started walking toward the entrance to the Magic Kingdom, Denny noticed, for the first time the song that was wafting over the massive room's loud speakers.

"When you wish upon a star, your dreams will come true!"

Denny's grin widened. Just he, his mom, and his dad. The whole family. This was going to be the best vacation yet!

* * *

**AN:**_ That's it for now, folks. For realsies this time. Obviously I've set a lot of stuff up here, and I very much intend to write a sequel and in fact a whole range of stories featuring the Eighth Doctor, Mira, Kylie, and several other characters, both familiar and brand new. Of course, really, this all depends on whether or not you all are even interested in reading further. I suppose we shall see! Thanks for reading and reviewing. _


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